when i started STILL i had only three rules: 1) found items from my natural environment,  2) daily, and 3) arranged on a bright white background. over time, i found it necessary to refine those rules in order to keep the project from wandering off. i added 4) no food photos (unless wild), and 5) no man-made or unnatural intervention. that fifth rule is a tricky one. what i intended was no glue, tape, wire, string, tacks, nails, vases, or ribbons. nothing that would detract from and compete with the natural objects themselves. if i made holes, i would punch them not with a hole punch but with, i don’t know, thorns, for example. but here’s the catch. i am a rule breaker by nature. one of my all time favorite mantras is “ask forgiveness, not permission.” so, this morning i got out an entirely man-made  x-acto knife and carved up these leaves. because rules, even one’s own, are made to be broken.

pressed and cut knotweed leaves

saint paul, minnesota