Texture || Boxelder Bugs

J and I were walking over to pick up some dinner last night when this maple tree covered in clusters of boxelder bugs caught our attention.  At the time, there were clusters twice the size of these at every branch/trunk attachment all the way up the tree, but after the glorious thunderstorm we had yesterday evening they must have been all washed out.  I went back today, and this is what I found.

Through the Light || Zinnias

Bees

You can barely make them out here, but we have some bees living in a giant hackberry tree down the street from us.  J and I periodically like to walk by it to observe their activity, and I would say that today is the most active I've seen them in months.  Apparently I'm not the only one who has emerged from their slothfulness with this 20 degree drop.  It's glorious!  And it's also encouraging to see these pollinators making their way in our paved, urban environment.  Kudos, sweet things!

Decomposition: Colony II

I'm excited to show you Colony II, the second installation from Phase I of my Decomposition series!  This site was so foggy and eerie, but was filled with decaying western red cedar logs and stumps and coated with moss.  The color contrast between the mist, the mushroom caps, moss and burnt orange wood fiber was breathtaking.  It made all the difference on the outcome of this particular installation.

If you missed the first installation and want to find out some background information on my project, you can find it here:  Colony I.

I also posted a sneak peek of some behind the scenes photos which may be viewed here:  Decomposition Sneak Peek.

Texture || Fungi of the Pacific Northwest

Yes, that is my post title.  This gets its own entry because I have so many photos of fungi from our trip last month.  As I was looking through the camera's playback in our hotel room in Portland, I told J that 20% of my photos were of trees, 15% were buildings/landmarks/other scenery, 5% were of food, 15% were from our friend's wedding, 5% were of J drinking beer, 10% were of my fiber art installations, and 30% of my photos were of some type of fungi in the woods.  So here you go, a showing of my favorites.  If you would like to see the rest, take a look at my Flickr stream.

Decomposition: Colony I

I'm excited to finally show you the first phase of my Decomposition series.  Phase one is called "Colony", and these photos depict the first of two installations that I had the joy of constructing.  View the full documentation of the installation in my portfolio.

I have yet to develop a formal statement about the series which will incorporate knitted replicas in the form of several types of wood decay fungi.  I've hinted at it here and there in previous blog posts, but I will explain a little further:

The series is a study on the intricate textures of fungi and how they blend in to their natural environment.  At a glance and from a distance, these knitted replicas meld in as a part of the magnificent cycle that transforms living plants to detritus and further into minerals that nourish other living plants as they draw these minerals up from the soil.  For instance, when viewing the installation at the distance of the bottom photo the pieces appear natural and as though they are meant to exist there.  However, on a closer encounter one sees that these are not fruiting bodies at all.  The delicate knit stitch stands out and draws you in for closer inspection, much like the intricacies in the texture of fungi draw me in.  These elements spur on a stream of questions that carry me meditatively in to a place of introspection.  While this is a personal project, I hope that it excites the same way of thinking amongst its viewers, elevating to a greater level of awareness of one's surroundings.

The second installation of "Colony" will go up on this blog a week from today, so check back to see it! I hate to choose favorites, but I was actually even happier with how the second one turned out than I was with the first.  I am also exploring inspiration for the next phase and hope to begin construction on that very soon.

Sneak Peek || Decomposition: Colony

As I've mentioned, one of my goals for our trip to the Northwest was installation and documentation of the first phase of my wood decay fungi project, Decomposition.  To my excitement, I found two spectacular sites to utilize and created installations at each of them.  I can't wait to show these to you!  For now, this sneak peek will have to do.

The above photo includes the mushroom caps in the wooden box that I used to transport them, along with a photo that served as the inspiration for this whole series.  It shows a decaying log in the rain forest of Costa Rica that is covered in a "colony" of what appear to be very small ink cap mushrooms.  The intricacies of texture in different types of fungi is what has moved me to begin this particular series, and I must say that carrying out my vision for this phase in a setting exactly how I visualized it has left me with more creative fulfillment than I've ever had.  Needless to say, full steam ahead with the next phase.

Here are a couple of photos J shot of my putting it all in place, and one more of the caps in the box.  We got a little scared on our departing flight when we realized that the little box probably looked mighty suspicious in the airport X-ray machine... and probably even more suspicious had my bag been searched.  Apparently it went undetected, though.  Good thing. :)  Also, note the mosquito on my shoulder in the first one - we were getting SWARMED the whole time we were up there, although oddly enough I was bitten very few times.

I will post photos of "Colony I" a week from today, and "Colony II" will go up a week after that.

Decomposition || Colony Trial

These little guys have kept me busy lately, reinforcing the cap shape with wire and wrapping the stems.  I'm finding that I wish I had made more of them, but I still think the project outcome will be fun and as expected.  If it works out, there is always opportunity to make more of them for a larger scale installation eventually.

This first phase is titled "Colony" and after we return home I plan to get to work on some Ganoderma - a lot more color, a lot more technical and shape dependent.  I have some exciting ideas for how to execute that phase though, so I can't wait to get started on it.

In any case, while we were in Arkansas camping last month, I took a few pieces along with us on a hike just to test them out.  Here is a sneak peek of a "Colony".  After we return from Oregon, I'll post the real deal.

Through the Light || Oak-Hickory Forest

This is the last set of images from our visit to the Ozark National Forest early this month.  One other visual aesthetic that always makes my heart go pitter-patter is the effect of natural light (or artificial, in some cases) on a scene.  I know I'm not alone on this - it's a common theme across the board in photography, which I am no expert in.  This "Through the Light" feature, much like "Hues" and "Texture" is merely my own perspective on themes that stand out to and inspire me on a regular basis. I think the last one is my favorite.

What inspires you?

Hues || Oak-Hickory Forest

In the quiet moments of life there is much to observe, and those moments happen to be the ones that recharge me every day of my life.  Through the Texture, Hues and Light features, my intent is to draw attention to details normally unnoticed which I find inspirational at the time of capture.  The array of textures in hardwood forests is unending, but colors are a different beat.  While the overall hue of the setting is a veil of green and brown, the detail and slight differences of hues are easy to pick out when looked at closely.

I always find myself in awe of these details (whether texture or hue OR both together).  Here are some of the hues I picked up on while we were visiting the Ozarks recently.