What a difference....

... a year can make.

I shot some nature photos this time last year and posted them here. I went back to a couple of the same places and re-shot the same formations. The most intriguing is the fungus formation on the stump, the amount of decay over a year is significant but more interesting still is the new life that is growing with it.


This is the entire top part of the stump. The hole in it is greatly enlarged.



This is the new fungal growth. It wasn't there in the photo from this spring.



This is the old growth which itself has started to decay. Instead of the rich browns and greys that it held last year, a portion of it is blackening and there are distinct bands of green forming in the growth. It is also sprouting its own fungal growth that is new on feeding on its decay.



On the 5th I took shots of the witch hazel, which is exactly one year ago from the previous images of it in bloom. The blossoms were well formed and fresh.



Today I snapped the blooms again and the frost from last night is starting to shrivel them a bit more. The flowers are such fringed little things, not much more than 2-3cm in size when fully extended.



It was cold enough last night to produce one more thing that fascinates in the late fall: hoar frost.



Small fragile crystal flowers of ice and soil.


Cascading upwards over small pebbles, bearing the weight of the disturbed earth on the tips.



Moss growths on maple bark.



Bright holly berries and the ruddy leaves of impending winter.



A completely accidental shot. The bright sunlight behind the aging sumac blossom imparts an ethereal quality to an otherwise ordinary entity.

--

Suffice it to say that the natural world is not the only place where a year or even a few days has made evident changes. One of these days when I am not so fascinated with the visual I may write about it.

--

Resistance

Recently a friend asked me why I don’t write, as in write more, or write professionally, rather than just the occasional piece of prose, poetry or blog post. He told me that it was as important to my soul as my work as an artisan.

I didn’t disagree with him, but in a way, I blew it off by responding that I do write, for myself and my own pleasure. Then I got to wondering why I never did pursue the writing career that I once thought that I wanted. What stopped me?

It is the very same thing that has stopped me from pursuing other interests and… my own resistance to the effort.

Coincidently this same friend mentioned a book to me last December by Steven Pressfield: The War of Art. In this book, Pressfield addresses the concept of Resistance as the enemy to our creative processes. It is the enemy and it is often confused with external factors and influences, like family and other work.

The resistance is the same thing that is causing me to procrastinate in even writing these few words. It is the unspoken fear of the blank page, the “what if I can’t fill it?”

The realization is that writing is like the jewelry work that I do and it is based on discipline and interest. It is the willingness to go and sit at the bench for a designated period of time everyday, regardless of the results. Some days the work is phenomenal, it flows and pieces just seem to happen effortlessly. Other days I can walk in, sit, and stare at the tools and the silver, I will pick up stones and beads and touch them carefully, searching for a spark of inspiration. Sometimes there is not any and those are the days that I start by making simple earrings. At least by making the effort to do something, I am succeeding in overcoming resistance. I am working and I am working as a professional and I am seriously playing.

The question now becomes, what else do I want to seriously play at?

New & custom work

Just a few new recently finished items, including some pieces for a custom order which included several large pendants.

Turquoise nugget with a faceted accent, sterling silver (custom).

Woven sterling and Blackstone leaf (new).

Labradorite and sterling (custom).

Cubic Zirconia in sterling silver (new).

Amazonite with faceted accent in sterling (custom).

Patterns and Colour

The late fall offers a range of patterns and colours that can be easily missed in the more flamboyant early fall and the garish summer.

This morning is a brisk, but not cold, overcast day, one that compelled a walk with camera in hand for a close look at small beauties.

Tiny cups and saucers are suggested by some of the fungus and the colours of quickly approaching Christmas in the other.

The growth on this decaying log seems to suggest that there is a whole micro-cosmic world of possibility in the small forest. For the insects that run rampant through it on warmer days, I am sure there is the same quest for food and shelter, lust and love, a battle of wills and stories of battles and survival that haunt our larger human world.

Bark always presents interesting colour and patterns and this is of a hole started by Pileated woodpeckers in a large hemlock. It has beat away the heavy bark layer and is now starting to peck away at the wood underneath. This is fresh activity because the wood is still very bright. The woodpeckers hunt for ants and other boring insects.

The slender branches of the wild cinnamon roses are a deep red and the leaves are surprisingly still on the bush, perhaps only now for a few more short days.

Fungi are perhaps some of the most interesting things to be examined. I particularly enjoyed this one that was growing on an old beech tree stump.


It is a banded and cascading thing of subtle beauty.

And perhaps the loveliest of the late fall blooms is the spidery yellow of the Witch Hazel. It waits in ordinary green leaves for the entire summer, and fades to autumn brown before breaking into a dynamic show after the first hard frost.

The hazel is like some people, it must first grow, and appear bland, then with the cruelty of life, the hardening in cold times, they burst open, blooming, exposing themselves for their real self. Colourful but hardy even if delicate in appearance.

For other images from today: http://www.mboot.net/imagetest.htm

© Cynthia Ryder 2008

Fun With O-rings

Once in awhile there is a custom order that really is fun to work on. There is both enough guidance and enough freedom to play and experiment and it is different enough that it shows new possibilities in other items.

Frankly I am not much of a chain person, but I like this one, nice large 18 gauge square wire for the links. It has a nice smooth feel to it. Alternating links have been oxidized creating a soft grey-black effect in the links. The somewhat too tightly linked weave that served as a prototype is my new bracelet. I really like the weight of it.



I have been making these knotted fine gauge sterling silver spheres for a couple of years now as those of you that follow my work know. As above I am back to figuring out a series a links to bring these time consuming little monsters, measuring 8-10 mm each, together into a chain. I am also a hardware/automotive store shopper in that there are good tools that can modified for the bench, and various bits of hardware that are really cool to look at. Bought an O-ring kit sometime in the past year and the a-ha moment happened...



And of course, the left-over rings from the first project had to be used somewhere and the mid-sized O-rings are just so tempting and combined with hematite, both open-eye linked across the O-rings and caged... great earrings.

Enjoy!
--
© Cynthia Ryder 2008
--

Art lessons...

... are paying off.

A long time friend of mine, Carole Forbes, teaches her own pen & ink drawing method. She just returned from out west a few months ago and since I have been finally getting braver about my own art, I decided to treat myself to some lessons. Been enjoying it immensely.

Here is the result, an original no less:

Another friend shot a pic of this tree last summer while out on a road trip. I really liked the gnarly old pine, so I used it as the basis for this drawing, changed a few things, "artistic license" after all, but the result is not too bad after only 5 weeks.

Enjoy!

--

Fun, Food & Friends

Fun, Food & Friends: Sunday Evening Drop-in

This is program that is being offered by the Nashwaaksis United Church , and is a free event on the third Sundays of the month. Right now they have plans for September 21, October 19, November 16 and December 21.

The doors open at 4 with a supper being served at 5 and the talent show starts at 6. Artists and artisans as well as wellness professionals will be on hand throughout the evening for fun and learning.

To learn more, call Mary at 458-9452 or check their web or just show up.

David and I will be there on the 21st helping with a "make and take" jewellery project.

We're looking forward to this opportunity to connect with more folks in the community.

Interesting times...

I've been following Hugh over at GapingVoid and the notes on The Cloud. From there, went and took a good look at Evernote. Really nice bit of programming and it has the potential to drastically alter how we do favorite-ing forever. I like it.

Also read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. It's a book title that gets tossed around from time to time on the forums. It's not likely a program that gets completed every time a book is sold however. Like many self-exploratory projects, they don't get done. True to form I procrastinated on starting the outlined tasks until today as I finished the book last night. It may well work into a good thing as I work to stick-with-it.

Meandered into one of the local used goods/recycle stores last and picked up the green Days of the New CD. Been enjoying that today too. Someday, I'll run across some more of their work. Travis Meeks is a brave poet.

All together, these little forays into the unknown have amounted to a creative vacation. And it's good to take a vacation from the should do's. The bonus is that leaves me wanting to do more of the good stuff that is actually productive.

That's today, check back with me next week and see if I'm still hanging in there :)

Now listening to: Choke Hold - Days of the New
--
--

The Flickr Meme - borrowed from Sharon

How it’s played:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.



1. What is your first name? Cynthia

2. What is your favorite food? pizza

3. What high school did you go to? Harvey Regional High School

4. What is your favorite color? black

5. Favorite pastime? reading

6. Favorite drink? chai

7. Dream vacation? Europe for a few months

8. Favorite dessert? cherry cheese cake

9. What do you want to be when you grow up? a better me than I am now

10. What do you love most in life? my friends

11. One word to describe you. nice, at least I hope so

12. What town do you live in? Acton

13. What is your occupation? art

14. What did you have for breakfast? coffee & veggies

15. Favorite element? Water

16. Favorite season? Spring

17. Favorite seasonal activity? planting the garden

18. Fave music when you don't know what else to listen to? The Tragically Hip

19. Celeb you would like to meet? Woody Allen

20. What is on your computer desk top? measuring tape

21. Favorite shoes? my heels

22. Favorite alcoholic drink? ammaretto

23. Favorite candy? cherry chocolates

24. Favorite flower? painted daisies

25. What did you do today? tidied up in the studio & read a bit

The resulting mosaic:







Credit, where credit is due:
1. Cynthia takes artistic license with Pike's Peak, 2. Pizza night!, 3. United States Coast Guard, 4. One Night in Bangkok, 5. llibreria - bookstore - Amsterdam - HDR, 6. kitchen #2, 7. France - Provence - Lost in Lavender, 8. Yummy For My Tummy, 9. hair, 10. Hold me close, under the sunset, 11. hello. nice to meet you., 12. Moonrise, 13. Cd Art, 14. an iranian old painting, 15. October Morning on Lake Michigan, 16. Red.Source, 17. French Garden at Duke Farms, 18. I Hate You, San Francisco, 19. Woody Allen in concert, 20. tape measure, 21. Red Heels, 22. Some nights you just have to, 23. Chocolate-Cinnamon Mousse with Cherries, 24. 'Painting' of African Daisy from Lowe's, 25. my miniature studio


The interesting thing about an excercize like this is that it is a creative one, it's fun, and if you answer quickly, right off the top of your head, you might surprise yourself with some honest answers.

The next part of the exercise is realize, perhaps, how few of the small luxeries, like your favorite dessert, you haven't treated yourself to in a long time. Make a date with yourself for a treat at least once a week. It's amazing how good a little luxery feels.

Sharon's Blog may be found here.