A New Direction

 Since completion of the botanical weavings for Volcan Mountain just over a year ago, I have had the pleasure of a leisurely meandering to a place of renewed focus.

I rested. I took time for deepening my spiritual practice. I hiked deeper into the back country than ever before. I simply sat on our hillside — not minding the time — to take in the bustling stillness of life that is the Chaparral.  I cleaned my studio top to bottom, including clearing out virtually all of the botanicals that I had gathered over the years.  I wove some.

We took a road trip in May, driving through Arizona to New Mexico, to meet up with family and a couple of friends.  The land took us in and nurtured us in the way she always has.  Being with family and friends nurtured us.

Upon our return, I finished weaving a small rug I had started months before.  I wove it as a kind of sampler, a rekindling of my desire to move into tapestry, playing with various types of wool and various gauges of yarns. 

Then another road trip in August/September.  A few days with cousins in Colorado, foraging for mushrooms, hiking, and taking in the local bluegrass talent.  Then two workshops at Tierra Wools in Chama, New Mexico.  

More tapestry rugs and naturally dyed yarns to follow!

Stay well, and do what makes you happy!

Looking East

 

Volcan Mountain Foundation recently acquired 23 acres on the eastern side of the mountain,  overlooking the San Felipe Valley.

Joel and I headed out there earlier this month, for my final day of gathering botanical materials to weave in honor of the mountain, and the Foundation’s effort to preserve and protect — along with a number of other public and private agencies — as much land as possible on that 15-mile long range.

“Looking East” is a woven bouquet of chaparral plants that I have been familiar with for years, plus some I’ve not encountered until that day.  Bush mallow and rabbit bush, penstemon spectabilis and oh....I don’t know all your names, but I love you anyway!

I would like to close my blogs about my precious time on Volcan Mountain, courtesy of the Volcan Mountain Foundation, with a big “THANK YOU” to Board President Eric Jones and Executive Director Colleen Bradley.  Your kind and enthusiastic support in finding my way about the mountain, and readiness to answer my queries made my time working on this project that much more delightful. 

Headwaters

 One of the most notable facts about Volcan Mountain, is that it is home to the headwaters of both the San Diego River and the San Dieguito River.  Two distinct springs emerge from a western slope to form the source of each of those rivers.  

These two springs are within easy walking distance from each other, and one morning I took the time to gaze upon each of them and their surroundings in turn, mesmerized by the sublime sight and sound of water emerging from the earth. Mmmmmm....

I chose three prominent plants from those springs for this botanical weaving: cat-tail (T.latifolia), western bracken (pteridium aquilinum var. pubescens) and crimson columbine (aquilegia formosa). Their unique forms came together quite surprisingly for me as I was weaving this piece, so distinct are their qualities of form and texture.  

Here are photos of the springs, and photos of the weaving (17”x27”) in which I attempted to depict the movement of the water as well as to display the delicacy, toughness, and wonder of the plants.

Once again, thank you Volcan Mountain Foundation, for giving me this opportunity to explore the mountain as well as my craft.

Touching the Sky

 

 

 

 

 After making my way though a long, tunnel-like thicket of ceanothus, I emerged into a small clearing near the top of the trail. Ah!  The swirl of fresh air, sunshine, and blue sky! And a bonus smattering of wild yarrow, reaching their slender stalks upwards, touching the sky.  How to convey that experience?  In a botanical weaving, naturally!

I wove the yarrow stems in with a few asters, which I gathered a bit further along the trail, into my weft, as usual.  But they simply had to be oriented in their natural upright state, so as you can see from the photos, I hung them from the weft rather than my usual method of hanging the weaving from the warp.  

Thank you “tresmarie” for the design concept of how to attach the top frame to the weaving.

And a big THANK YOU to Volcan Mountain Foundation for supporting me in my craft.

Along the Sky Island Trail

While I was weaving this piece, the joy I felt while hiking along the Sky Island Trail came back to me in force.

It was a perfect summer morning, slightly cool at first then growing in warmth, as I walked among the flora, marveling at the charm and diversity of plants, so many of which were new to me.

My progress was slow, since there was much I wanted to take in both literally and figuratively.  As always when I am gathering materials, I plucked only a bit from any one plant.  

Since that outing and during my preparation for this piece, I recalled a quote from the renowned naturalist, Loren Eiseley:  “One could not pluck a flower without troubling a star.”  What he meant by this is that Everything and Everyone in this universe is connected — interwoven.  How wondrous and beautiful and terrifying that is!

And it made me think: does it matter with what intention one plucks that flower?

I say yes, it does.  If we “pluck” with reverence, conservatively, and with love, the stars shine brighter, and so do we all.

Thank you to Volcan Mountain Foundation, for affording me the pleasure of hiking and weaving “Along the Sky Island Trail”....woven with reverence, love, and joy.  22”x31”.

A Wee Weaving

 Greetings!  Now that the heat of summer has set in, I am thankful that I had gathered together a tremendous selection of botanical treasures during my three outings on Volcan Mountain when the weather was cooler.

I let these darling purple lupine stalks be the subject of another weaving, since they kept jumping out at me from the midst of all the rest. 

This wee weaving — 8”x 10.5” — was woven on my tiny ArtCraft loom in the space of a few deliriously happy hours last month.

Thank you Volcan Mountain Foundation for giving me this opportunity to celebrate and honor your stewardship for our beloved mountain preserve, “Where Purple Flowers Grow”.

Sacred Ground

My second foray onto Volcan Mountain was an immersion of my senses into the sights and sounds and smells and textures of the forest and beyond. My senses, and also my heart.
It was a relatively cool morning.  The first sound I noticed was the deep cooing of an unfamiliar bird. I stood still and watched for it...caught a glimpse of it among the treetops...what was it? I have yet to know it’s name.
Then I turned my attention to what was underfoot.  Soft, dark, sweet smelling earth, duff layered with rocks, leaves, pine needles, katkins, seedlings, pine cones, twigs, branches, and bugs.  What a fascinating mix of colors, shapes, growth, sustenance, and decay!
I started gathering them. Not all, just some.  Oh! This twisty twig, this bouquet of leaves, these delicate oak frills, this spray of incense cedar, this sprig of something....
Three hours later, having deposited my first round of botanicals in the back of my car, then proceeding to hike the trail up to the Sky Island Pipe Scope and back again, gathering more materials along the way, I paused before heading home.
My “takeaway”:  this mountain, this 420-plus acres of the Volcan Mountain Foundation land, combined with adjacent county- and conservancy-preserved land of 31,000 acres, is sacred ground.
What do I mean by “sacred”?  Blessed, a bestower of blessings, worth preserving, valuable in and of itself, soul-nourishing, life-nourishing, worth knowing and appreciating and enjoying and celebrating and adoring.
These are my memories and thoughts and feelings, as I wove “Sacred Ground”.
Here are some scenes from the mountains, as well as the weaving.