The Woodland Faerie Tea House

I found a most magical location last week. It is actually an island in my favourite river. The island is literally held together by the roots of large and ancient cedar trees. At the leading edge of the island stands this massive family of trees. They have been living so closely together now they are all beginning to grow into one another...being so close gives them the strength to hold together the upstream end of the island which endures tremendous pressure from the outgoing ice of spring... but all of that was a distant echo as I arrived on the island last week, ready for a co-creative adventure with the nature spirits of the place. But this big family, was definitely the first location that called to me.

It took a long time to create this deceptively simple structure... but it is what is underneath the structures that had to be just right. I wanted an airy and open place for the Faeries to be able to meet. The place had a luscious carpet of moss and the sunlight dappled most beautifully upon the graceful curves of the carpeted roots.

I searched for half a day to find just the right twigs, all cedar, like the trees and all peeled by the river in the spring floods so now they were smooth and shiny... but they had to be fished out of huge piles of tangled twigs along the shores first and gathered up to be used to make the basket-like frame that is hidden under the roof.

Once the framework had the right flow to it, it was time to lay on the roof... again.. using only cedar, clipping just tiny amounts from each tree all up and down the whole island, enough was collected to make the roof.

The main structure complete, it was not time to focus on the actual spot where the Faeries could come to take their tea. I found alovely clump of moss that had been recently uprooted so it and the unusual curved branch became the centerpiece... I knew I wanted a little gazebo like place, but it needed to be light as air...so I decided to suspend a roof from the hook of the curved branch... and the moss was laid into the stone circle below.

Some lovely flowers were blooming nearby and they added perfect colour accents.

Yes, this now had the welcoming and inviting feeling I had been hoping to create... a lovely little riverside get-a-way for the Faeries to come and sit and enjoy a quiet moment and some sweet tea together.

Ahhhhhhhh........

A technical note; thanks to the gentle support of a far-away friend I am learning how to create high dynamic range images. The first two photos on this page are using this technique. I'm still feeling completely inept with this method, and the images take a lot longer to shoot and process.... but the depth and clarity are very much worth it, so I dedicate this house and these images to the one who helped get me started in this new way of seeing and recording my work. Thank you M.W. so very, very much!