tolstoy and gull feathers

i thought of the first line of anna karenina as i was trying to sort out my thoughts about these feathers: “all happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” similarly i think all perfect specimens are alike. but each imperfect specimen is imperfect in its own way. and i am more drawn to the infinity of beautiful imperfection than the limits of perfect beauty.

gull feathers from lake superior

fashionably worn

remember when i was slicing up fruit and veggies back in september (2020)? well, i tucked a few of the compositions into my plant press to see what would happen. most of them were too wet, it turns out, and eventually molded. but this white asparagus survived. and i sort of love the way it got a little roughed up, but still survived. i couldn’t have tried to age it much better.

white asparagus strips, pressed

wrapping paper

i like making patterns with previous STILL images when i have twenty minutes to spare and a coffee nearby. i get so many requests to turn them into wrapping paper. the problem is, i have a lot of twenty minute increments. not a lot of 72 hour increments. one day . . .

white pine pattern

pine nuts

in the mediterranean, the parasol pine cone creates the pine nuts of italian cooking. i wish we had a northern version. i would want it to be firm but not crunchy. and to smell of cinnamon.

tamarack, red pine, and white pine cones

autumn snow

i love early snow and late snow. in both cases, it is a clean sweep of the landscape. but sometimes i could wish for a little midseason color. a holiday kaleidoscope. a cobalt blue snowfall on the coldest day of the year. or a lime green dusting in march, heralding the bud bursts of spring.