Tundra Swans, Brownsville, Minnesota

Amazing Beauty on the Back Waters of the Mississippi

Tundra swans resting and feeding make a lot of noise at rest.  Take a look at the black tufts in the water.  I took these photos as the sun was going down creating the soft pink in the water and the sky.

 

The tundra swans are making their fall migration to the East or West Coasts of the United States.  The birds  feed and rest near Brownsville, Minnesota then travel to the Eastern Atlantic Coast to winter.  They travel and live in large flocks.  Adult birds mate for life, but if one of the pair dies; the other will take a new mate.  The birds mate in the Arctic Tundra of northern Alaska and Canada in the summer.   

 

The migration is 4000 miles long.  And the young cygnets must learn to fly and make the long migration in order to survive with the flock.  At take off, the tundra swans run for 15-20 feet flapping their wings until they get a lift off.  They fly as high as 6000-8000 feet.  The birds can reach  speeds up to 100 miles an hour with a tail wind.  

The black tufts in the water are coots, a bird that lives in shallow water.  The swans and the coots seem to get along.  This photo by Bob Stuber was taken through a telescope.

Water Quilt

 

 Sun dapples over the water quilt in my studio.

Water: it falls from the sky, we drink it, it allows plants to grow, we use it to wash our bodies, our clothing, our food, our homes.  I am very grateful for water.

As I contemplate water, I’ve been playing with what water means to me and how I can express these feelings in my fiber work.  Rather slowly, a piece is unfolding and another one on its heels.  The second piece spoke louder to me and I photographed some of its progress.  Sometimes, I have so many ideas that I don’t know where or how to take a step forward.  I feel like I’m in a stadium with all the fans cheering, “Do this,” or “No, do this,” or “Don’t do this”.  Then I remind myself, “It’s ok to take a baby step.”   I set a timer for 2 minutes.  Yes, only two.  And then I’m in and it becomes fun again and I move the crowded million thoughts aside and go with the energy in the artwork.  Here are some things that I figured out today.

In these photos I'm going to stitch the fabric sleeves that hold the thin piece of wooden screen molding that I use for a hanger.  I measure  the distance that I need for the hanger.  Then I measure the screen molding and cut it with a Japanese hand saw.  I sand the hanger smooth, drill two holes in the wood for the wire that will allow easy hanging.  I sign and date my artwork and it is ready to be hung in a beautiful place.

 

Back of Water Quilt with hanger.

Front of Water Quilt ready to hang. Quilt measures 6" x 9".

Dying Scarves

 

As I was biking the other afternoon, the yellow leaves of the changing trees were brazing with color.  And the branches were letting loose of their leaves, getting ready for the long rest and dormant time of winter.  As I biked through those leaves, the familiar crunching sound filled my ears.  The fragrance of drying leaves brought back memories of jumping in  leaf piles with laughter and abandon.  All of that color changing and shifting around us stirred me to want to bring some of that color into my world of creation.

Today, silk/rayon scarves and shawls of white become the rich colors of midnight blue with cerulean and cobalt blue.  I use fiber reactive Procion Dyes to create this luscious palette of colors.  Each shawl has two to four dye colors to create the interesting depth and variation in each shawl.  The multi-color of dye reacts to the silk and rayon fiber combination to add another element to the complexity in the color of each shawl.  There becomes as almost iridescent quality to the shawls.

                                                                                                                                      Luscious to wear.