Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Celebrating Lake Champlain


This sculpture is a celebration of the beauty of this lake and the way it connects the land and lives of both its shores. This year is the 400th year anniversary of the arrival of the person who gave the lake its current name, but there have been people here for thousands of years who called it by their own names. I wanted to look beyond the politics of the centuries and just get down to some simple beauty.

The mountain in the frame of the irises, is the tallest mountain on the land that is the farthest shore, currently the state called Vermont. We are in
the Boquet River, a river which arises from the very highest peaks of the land that is this closer shore, in what is now called New York. The broad lake is just on the other side of the sandy beach... and the wind was howling when I took this photo. I had wanted a calm day for this image and had been waiting over a week to make this structure, but the only clear day was also a windy one, so that is why we are hunkered down in the river rather than out on the edge of the broad lake. This sculpture would have lasted about 3 minutes if it were out there.

The frame is made from willow twigs that I found along the river and which had been peeled by Beavers. I love the idea that an animal had a big part in making this creation. I did not trim the twigs, just found many and used the ones that fit to make this frame.

May you always be able to know that you are connected to the highest highs, even when you might be feeling low...that both shores of polarities are needed to contain the flow of life and that there is beauty all around and in us...let it help you navigate any rough waters you find yourself in and know always that there are safe ports dotted all along the way.

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Welcome to the enchanted world of Environmental art and Faerie Houses sculptures created by Sally J Smith. Here you will find photos of the artist's unique art-forms and hear some of the stories from behind the scenes as she shares with you her creative process.