Virginia A. Spiegel

Photo by Nancy J. Spiegel Rosman

When I am in the Boundary Waters I try to keep my mind blank, but open.  A terrifically hard thing for me personally.  But art will out.  We were having “rock time” and I started pushing “stuff” around with a little stick.  The time floated by as the little stick worked its magic in finding and arranging things found on the rock.  I wonder what the next person who arrives on these campsite rocks will think of this found-object collage.

I’m always looking, looking, looking from the canoe, on the portage, and in camp.  Here are some of the themes I am, once again, contemplating with these new images as inspiration:

The juxtaposition of hard and soft; the timelessness of nature, the ephemeral nature of humans.

The beauty of decay, the cycling of all things in life from life to death.

The abundance of everything in nature, even spawn upon the shore.

The power of water; the mystery of reflection.

Markings

The mature shagbark hickories in my backyard are a continual source of inspiration for me.  Their bare shadows are the most dynamic part of the landscape at the moment.

Stitching

The birds leave these wonderful patterns in the snow on my sidewalk. The little black accents are thistle seed which has blown off the feeders.

I thought you might need a bit more color after that photo, so here is something that makes me happy every day:

Eye of the Beholder

Sanctuary

We’re back in the snow and cold zone again.  My yard looks very messy in the winter as I leave my ornamental grasses up all winter.  

The birds inch out to the tops of the grass fronds for the seeds and then swing down to Earth before jumping off, flying up and starting all over again.  I don’t mind when the grasses finally succumb and tip over. The little snow caves underneath make sanctuaries for birds and beasts.

The birds are so use to me putting out seed, and so desperate in the cold weather for fuel, that they let me stand quite close while they feed. Can you tell it was a mini-blizzard yesterday?