Fresh Snow and Introspection

Fresh Snow II

We had our first real snow last week. It transformed everything into a pristine, soft, bright fantasy - as if we hadn't seen this world at all before. The rain and warm breeze over the weekend erased all of it, but now it feels like winter and the snow will return.

I love the promise of quiet and introspection that comes with this season. It's a time to take in all that happened in the past year and process it, keeping what is constantly nourishing and learning from the rest.

The piece above, Fresh Snow II, is part of a diptych I made after a ski into Grass Pond last winter. I was experimenting with textured stabilizer as a substrate for printing digital photos, as I did in April. I am still learning how to prepare the substrate for printing, but I love the effect so much that it is a very satisfying process.

One of the best experiences of the past year was the coming together of a small group of spectacular women to paddle every Monday evening. We began in August and continued into late October, when the lakes and streams began to return to their solid forms. As the days got shorter, we paddled by headlamp and made campfires at our destination each time to warm our hands and to heat whatever food we brought to share. The experience of being with these adventurous friends in beautiful wild places was expanding and miraculous for each of us. Our thankfulness for each other and for the amazing place in which we live became our name: Gratitude Girls.

I started a Gratitude Series of collages, using some of photographs I took of our adventures. They are hanging now in the holiday show at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts. Here are a few. Make some Adventures of your very own!