Gymnosperms on my mind

Plants that reproduce by cones, for you non-biological types

Two years ago, I took a wonderful course in making my own paste papers from Susan Kristoferson, and she encouraged us to bring found items to use in decorating our papers -- one of the things I took was a collection of cones collected from some fir trees in my neighbourhood.

While I liked the resulting paper, there really wasn't much of it, so it has sat in my paper stash (as opposed to the spinnable fibre stash, or the hand-knitting yarn stash, or the machine-knitting yarn stash) waiting for the right project to come along.

I've found inspiration in the recent rebroadcast episode of Landscape as Muse that featured the work of Jeane Fabb, who worked with performance artist Tedi Tafel to create Seedkeepers, a scuptural work in snow that Jeane eventually filled with pine cones.

One thing she said in particular fired up my idea lightbulb: Cones are the past, the present, and the future, and I've been exploring that thought while collecting cones, taking pictures, and hiking among conifers. It's rapidly rising up my list of projects to work on soon.

Looks like I found a home for that nice piece of paste paper.

And I found a vital element today for another book I've titled spirit level: it's important to work on it now, before the immediacy of a recent murder/suicide here in Calgary (committed by a student who was about to graduate from the faculty where I am an alumna) dissipates.

My spirit needs levelling....