If I were a Faerie, this is where I'd want to take a nap ! These flower structures are so challenging to make !! The luscious purples beckoned me to come and create something wild and playful. The Hummingbirds kept an eye on me too as I worked on this piece. It all had to be created in about 10 minutes and then I had about 3 more minutes to take the shots... barely time to breathe !
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I apologize to my fans, but I need to be taking a few more days off from posting. We have my dad's memorial service coming up and then I am taking some time off to be with my family. This is a tender passage for my entire family and we are going to spend some time together to heal from our loss....thanks to everyone who sent emails of support and have been patient with my sporadic posts. August has got to be better than June and July !
Namaste to All and thank you for your thoughts and prayers.
See you soon !
This image is dedicated to my full moon friend, who, I just heard today has also had to let go of someone so dear to her heart this past month.
Blessed be Arlene
Same sculpture, same night... oh, what a difference a few degrees of orientation can make.
This one is made from reeds, bird feathers and a few thorns... nothing more. It was incredibly fragile. This could only have been made on a breathless evening.
The original idea was to frame the July full Moon with a delicate archway... but the sunset was astonishing too. I kept wading thru the water from one side to the other to document the amazing changes in the light. Later, the moon did arrive, but she had to sail clear of a lot of low clouds at first, so by the time she appeared she was well up and barely within the gateway.
NOT a good time to have left the tripod in the car nearly a mile away.
This is the view looking westward. Nothing has changed but the viewpoint...and in that, everything changes.
There is a lesson here. Nature always has something to teach us.
In Japan a Torii is used to mark the gateway between sacred space and ordinary space. It has the double meaning of framing a scene but also being an intrinsic part of the scene. It marks a place of transition... where one had to be cleansed and purified before entering the sacred. I am fascinated with gateways and places of transition. Having been ushered into one of the biggest transitions in one's life - the loss of a parent, this seemed a fitting sculpture to dedicate to this Full moon, the Grace Moon as I've heard it called recently. So, as the glorious fire of the setting sun faded into the West, the place of letting go and introspection, soon the Moon would make her grand entrance thru the Eastern Way... stay tuned for the final photo in the trilogy.
This is one of my tiniest sculptures. It measured just about 3 inches across. This time of year, the Laurel is blooming along the shores of a special lake in another state and this sculpture was created when I visited there last time. The laurel blossoms are very sticky and have a fragrance similar to honey, but sweeter. The buds reminded me of fabulous pearls or shells. When the blossoms are past their prime they easily slip off the branches and fall into the clear water below, then drift and float away in the breeze...perfect Fairy Coracles !!
Once, I followed several in my kayak and watched as electric blue damselflies tried to land on the floating blossoms...some of which were just large enough to hold the damselfly...those really did look like Faeries of the Lake out for a sail !! Sadly, my camera was left safely onshore.
Happy 4th of July ! For Americans, this is a holiday of fun and remembrance. And fireworks in the evening...but I thought I'd share this daytime delight. When I created this piece I was simply working with the flowers on hand...not really 'thinking' but rather intuiting my way along. I had the pleasure of working in my friends garden (she has some really beautiful flowers and they are magnificently cared for too)...the reds of the hollyhocks seemed to be like glowing rubies when backlit by the summer sun. The globe thistles were just starting to come into bloom, and there were daisies and there were other delicate flowers that I did not know the names of....but they reminded me of fireworks the way their delicate tendrils reached out from their stems. So I happily played with all these shapes and colours and began shooting...I'm not one to use this colour combination very much at any place in my world...but somehow, on that day...it was feeling 'right'....it wasn't until I got home, looked at all the images and I thought...this will make a perfect image for the July page of a calendar....then I looked at the number of the image...1776...and felt like the Faeries were having a great laugh with me !
On June 4th, my father left this earth, a place he loved so deeply, and moved on to his next adventure - exploring the heavens and stars.
This is a profound moment in most people's lives. Everyone meets the moment with different beliefs, expectations and experiences. For me, it has been a time of quiet reflection on the depth of our relationship together this lifetime, as well as deep gratitude for all the richness we shared...not all of it easy, but exceptionally textured with complex patterns of growth and learning for us both.
This image was taken several years ago in my labyrinth on a night in May when there was a major planetary alignment. Jupiter, the Moon, Venus, Saturn and Mercury are all in this image...as well as the Earth. One of the passions my dad and I shared is a keen interest in the cosmos....we used to love to ponder the meaning of it all...the vastness...try to wrap our minds around the complexities of the known and imagine what might be revealed in the next new images from telescopes pointed towards the heavens.
I am so glad he is free now, free to explore and find some answers to the questions we would constantly ask each other. His light will always be bright in my heart and I shall miss sharing my work with him. He loved the new sculptures and natural creations. His last words to me were to keep going with my new direction...to keep being creative, to bring beauty into people's lives. So...I will, again...soon.
Thank you to everyone who has sent messages of hope and support....they are greatly appreciated. Each moment of kindness that we share with one another makes such a difference...thank you. I will be back here soon posting new works...I just need a little more of an adjustment period to get used to life without my best friend.
This is my beloved father. On Thursday he had a sudden and massive health crisis event. It is not the first time, nor the second not even the third time that we've nearly lost him. This time, things are very uncertain.
I cannot work, I cannot do anything until this crisis gets resolved. I know it is unprofessional, but I will not be able to be adding any more posts for quite some time. I apologize to my fans. I hope you will come back. There is a lot of creative work I have yet to share...but right now my heart is burdened with grief and uncertainty and concern for my family and for this dear, dear man. He has been my most loyal supporter of my art ever since I scratched my first cartoon drawings into stones at the beach. I love him beyond words and I may loose him at any moment.
Please pray for whatever holds the highest healing for him and his family.
Thank you.
An Enchanted little tower on a mossy bank. This was such fun to make. The roof is the inspiration; a particular kind of fungus that grows only on white birch trees. It was harvested and carefully dried last fall. Porcupine quills form the window panes. Tiny tree fungus from another source decorate the sides. Cedar root "stairway" leading up to the tower was collected from a riverbank close-by...the river had peeled it nicely. Flowers were from my garden...thank you garden.
A place of refuge from a crazy world. Enjoy !
Yesterday I experimented with the same concept executed in two different locations. The location is one of my favourites ... a series of stair-step falls along the river near my house. The stones there are mostly soft sandstone except for a few granite-like boulders along the shoreline... these have been washed down from further up the river. The moss seems to prefer these boulder for a growing area.
I collected the leaves from a neighbour's yard and though they are not "wild" tree varieties, they were still very local and I chose them for their unusual colours. The leaves are all brand new and incredibly fragile. I am used to the leather-like quality of the leaves when I work with them in autumn, but the new spring arrivals tear more easily than tissue paper....this surprised me. The wind came up several times as I was making the first piece on the boulder. I had to hover over the entire piece to shield it from the unexpected gusts. A rainstorm passed thru. Once it was gone, calm returned, but not the sun. I liked the spiral on the boulder very much but wanted to see what would happen if I placed the leaves in water.
So, next I re-created it here in a shallow pool. I had added a few lilac blossoms for contrast and extra colour. The piece seemed to take on a life of its own as the wind and gentle currents moved it about the pool. Then it "landed" here and seemed to stick...it seemed at home.
I enjoyed this experimentation very much. I hope to work more with the water later this year once it warms up a bit more. Spring has been very cool so far.
This house was created last year. The river had carved out some lovely areas in the bedrock along one of the banks and the moss had been fed by the spring rains so it was rich and full. The large cottonwood tree had sheltered the area from the ravages of the winter ice and floods of spring. Lots of great building stone could be found, hidden in the pools and streambed below this site. It was on the side of the river that had a nearly vertical wall of vegitation going up approx 30 ft.... a challenging spot to reach, but such a pleasant place to work once one had managed the steep climb down.
This house took several days to construct and much of the structure remains hidden in this view, but it best shows that nestled feeling provided by the roots of the massive tree. Across from this spot a large pool and picnic rock was easily accessible, and fishermen and women would work the other side of the river sometimes not even realizing I was there. Weeks after creating the piece it still stood, sheltered under the tree. I would sometimes wander over to the fishing/picnic rock and listen to the kids eagerly pointing out the house across the pool to disbelieving parents. THAT was fun !
Labyrinth made of Dandelions. Had to rush to complete the lines before the flowers started to curl up. Brilliant spring day, a bit too breezy...the lines kept shifting slightly in the waving grass. Many migrating bird species seemed to have arrived today on the warm southerly winds. My fingers were stained bright yellow-orange afterwards...I was afraid I might contaminate the camera !
I'm still getting used to all the greenery once more...and all the colour from the flowers ! Today the Hummingbirds arrived in the garden...exactly a year to the day from their arrival date last year. How do they do it ? So many mysteries in Nature!
After months of working in the cold with snow and ice it takes awhile to get back into the rhythm of creating these sorts of sculptures... they are so much more complicated to construct. I love doing the stonework bits...this one does not have a lot of stone to it, but the trail leading up to the cottage has a lot more steps not in the photo. Bumblebees kept crashing the scene - so busy with their work. Birds are courting and nesting ...everything is rushing headlong into warmer weather with glee. As I was shooting this photo a strange sound started happening overhead....then I realized...the new leaves were out and the wind was rustling through them...it always surprises me this first recognition of leaves high up overhead. For nearly half a year the forest has been quiet and reserved. Now it is brimming over with the sounds of new life. It is sometimes a bit overwhelming after the long, deep stillness of winter. But in-between the bird songs and bee drones, it almost seems as if one can hear tiny giggles and laughter coming from under the violet leaves as they sparkle in the morning sun.
Oh ! the magic of secret places deep in the forest... tiny footpaths and mossy trails... open doors and open windows... the hush of twilight drifting across the gentle green glade.
This is a place of peace and magic.
I did not make these this year... they are from my first year of doing this work. But all the same daffodils are now in full bloom in the garden and they just make me smile. This was my very first experiment with a live flower sculpture. It was hard to work on something so small and so fragile after being used to dealing with ice and snow. To me they looked like little beach cabanas that the Faeries might use to take a nap in after working hard in the garden all morning. Or Faerie camping tents... do Faerie go camping?
Yes, sometimes we all need a break ... even from "serious" art and we need to just kick back and have some fun !!
Sometimes it is the simplest touch that makes such magic. I put this little structure together to celebrate the perfect beauty of the Wild Trillium and the civilized Dicentra both of which grow in my garden. Willow twigs helped give the structure some shape that would hold together long enough to get the photo. It was an otherwise dreary day... flowers seem to photograph best in bright overcast, and I was shooting lots of pics but not so pleased with the results...they lacked that special spark...then the sun managed to peek thru and sent a shaft of sunlight straight to the heart of the Trillium lighting up all the other hearts along the way... mine included !
On another note, I am very pleased to announce that Adirondack Life Magazine has just released its May/June issue and they have published a 6 page spread on my work. It was very nicely written by staff writer Mary Thill. Here is the address of their website: http://www.adirondacklife.com (sorry it is not a link, you'll have to copy and paste) If you are unable to get this issue locally, they do have an option to purchase single issues...just visit the website to find out how. They did a really great job.
I am also pleased to announce that Pomegranate Publishing will be producing 4 of my images in their boxed notecard offerings... will let you all know when they become available. There will be 20 cards to the box, 4 different images... are luscious green and woodsy images...and they do a fabulous job of printing so I'm sure it will be a first rate product.
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.
