found and ground

summer's foraging along the shores of the Yukon River yielded a few surprising finds... burnt boards, rusty square nails, rusted cables, a few earth pigments, old brick shards and some things that piqued my curiosity from the moment I first saw them shimmering black in the river

it was a small secluded area, an abundance of taller grass growing near the shore

pushing through, I found a small clear spot where I could kneel at the edge of the river bank and as I looked into the water I noticed these two "rocks" right away

I'd never seen shiny blackish rocks such as these... rough areas and smooth, a touch of dull tan colour here and there

later that day I uploaded a photo of them to Google and was informed they were not meteorites

that made me laugh... the thought of them dropping from the sky hadn't crossed my mind at all

over the next half-hour I had a "discussion" with the AI function on the Google search page and through that learned these are called "Boiler Clinkers"

 most likely coming from the boiler of one of the Yukon paddlewheeler boats that ran on the river between  1879 to 1955

made up of fused ash and non-combustible particles, they are a by-product of the burning of coal used to fuel some of the ships on their journeys up and down the river

usually shovelled overboard, in order to keep the grates clear, they can be found at many points along the river still

I found these in Whitehorse, at the old shipyards

a few hammer strokes brought the one on the left to heap of small particles which were further ground with a mortar and pestle

and ground,

and ground

they probably could have done with yet more grinding but I was eager to see what colour they would make so on to my glass plate a spoonful went and with a few dribbles of gum arabic solution, the mulling began

and continued,

and continued

eventually I could resist no more... a few swipes on a piece of watercolour paper showed me I could get a quite dense black and lighten that to beautiful greyed taupe with additional water

then more water and another piece of rougher watercolour paper showed me there were some nice granulating effects to be had

colour, richer and more varied than I'd hoped for

amazing to think I can paint a Yukon scene with a small piece of it!

the next find I want to work with is the brick shards, found in the same place

and the story continues...

take care,

Jillayne

you know it when you see it

the return to Salmon Arm is rarely without a thud and a bang... I find the "re-entry" tough, especially during the warmer months

the sudden change from the clean, clear expanse of the north to the heat and busyness of the south, the air at times thick with humidity, the population and the automobile exhaust that goes along with that make me long for the deep green forests and mountains I leave behind

for the last few trips, during my first week back, I have given myself the gift of time... time to play in the studio, to immerse myself back in my creative work

time to do what I love whilst getting used to where I am

to do as I please - cooking, yes... yard work and cleaning, no

last week you saw my "noticings" book, finally filled with small sketches

this week I'm pleased to show another finish

the first of my work based on the snowy wind-rows I saw on the shore ice of the Yukon River two winters ago is finally finished

hand-stitched vintage linen, ink-dyed linen for the base, driftwood for the handle

it stands just 4" tall and is barely 2" wide across the front

inspired by this view

and began like that

the tiny, tiny textural stitches that are grouped here and there along the longer lines are barely visible, reading more as a disruption of the weave than anything else but the effect of roughness is there and that's all I wanted

the pouch itself was completed some months ago but was awaiting it's handle

none of the driftwood I had was right - too short, too long, too brown, too wide, too narrow, too straight

on it went

Goldilocks herself would have been impressed

but then this summer, as I sat on the shores of Kluane Lake 

I found it

the beaches were littered with small pieces of twisted, bent driftwood in varying shades of grey and brown

right away I saw a small piece that looked exactly like what I had pictured in my mind as I sewed the pouch together

slightly crooked, arched, knobby, greyish, a few imperfections... 

I didn't have the pouch with me to judge right there and then so just in case I gathered a few extra pieces but in the end the one that made me say 

"Aha!"

was the right one after all

take care,

Jillayne

all I need

a while back I made a tiny "Noticings" book

a place to record what captures my interest along the byways

like so many other things I have made for myself, it sat, waiting

waiting for me to stop waiting for the right thing, the right day, the right place, the right idea

yesterday I realized I could keep waiting on an ideal or I could finally accept that I have all I need

right now

and so I did

sorting through my Yukon finds, I chose a number of small stones that were gathered for their markings 

in choosing what to bring home, it was the marks intrigued me most

 then the colour

interestingly, I rarely cared about the shape

wanting to be true to what I noticed, to what mattered, I chose to portray only the colour and a few of the lines

a faint watercolour wash

marks scratched with a half-worn almost dried up Sakura Pigma pen

the place in pencil

The pages are barely 2 1/4" tall, the embossed design area just 1 1/2" square

tiny, but all the space I needed 

a flip through the pages transports me to a day, a place, a moment

and it's all I need to remember why I reached out my hand

take care,

Jillayne

(you can read about the making of the book itself at the link below)

Noticings Book Post

the turning

the seasons are turning, summer slipping away seemingly overnight

the morning air, cooler than the water,  sends wispy tendrils of mist floating lightly over the river

a chance early morning drive turned into a beautiful experience in it's quiet presence

benches heavy with dew, the flat rocks that usually invited me to sit a while were icy cold to the touch

 instead, I stood quietly at the edge of the path and let my gaze follow the flow of the water along it's path

steely grey with a sheen, the surface texture seemed more richly textured than ever... the circles were still present but the space in-between was completely filled with marks... lines, dots, short dashes, some echoing others, some finding their own direction

I came home, got out the sewing machine, some white linen and began

this is actually the wrong side, a variegated blue thread in the bobbin that looks rather darker here than it actually is

a close-up below gives a better indication of how the blue actually looks

the other side was stitched with white thread but I haven't been able to get a decent photo of that yet

last week I did two blue versions... blue thread on blue linen

the above is stitched more densely

below, the stitching is less so

all of these need hand-stitching additions, building texture and enhancing the patterns... winter evening stitching

my time here in the north is over for now,  back to Salmon Arm tomorrow

I've taken dozens and dozens of photographs, collected bags of driftwood, interesting stones, earth pigments, raven feathers, rusted wire , drawings, written observations, charcoal rubbings and more

I'm going back armed with a few pages of written notes of ideas, things I'd like to work on and with... 

seems there will be busy days ahead

taking it in

an off hand request for me to take the kids to daycare on Friday quickly turned into an early morning opportunity to spend a quiet hour at the river downtown

coffee and raspberry pecan scone in hand from a favourite bake shop, I found a perfect sit-spot just down from the walking path, on a large, flat slab-rock of granite

the swift swirling flow of the river never fails to startle me

this morning, whilst letting my eyes slide along with the current I noticed the faint gurgling of the water as it came up against a thing or two along it's way

a bird chirped faintly across the river, a squirrel chattered nearby

I let the sunlight settle over me... a glowing, golden warmth

the world settled

other than an edit to straighten a slight tilt in the river bank, these photos are untouched, the current marks not sharpened in any way

this is exactly as they are

and such a surface it is!

the sewing machine is coming out next week and I'm going to have a go at emulating some of this with a little free-motion embroidery

wish me luck!

the sewing machine is not my strong-suit, but thankfully, some of the stitching will be done by hand will be done by hand

I've been researching current marks on rivers and what causes them

it's all to do with volume of water and the shape and features of the river bed

disruptions below cause disruptions above

as I was framing the view below to take the photo I noticed the water to the left of the pilings was somewhat calmer on the surface than the water to the right

the pilings disrupt the flow, making for a break in the current; thus, fewer marks

the water current is a visible record of every change the river has endured or created

many years ago a child skips stones across a river's surface...

they fall slowly to the riverbed, slightly altering it's surface

the water shifts a tiny fraction

a new ripple forms

a memory takes shape

the water flows

field notes

in the land of mountains, trees and water, the colours can be jaw-dropping, the light clear 

and I can never get enough of being outside

yesterday was a day spent boating on a favourite lake

nestled in the midst of coastal mountains, there is simply not a bad view

and many beaches to stop at and do some beach-combing

impossibly beautiful water

collecting driftwood from the southern lakes has been a pastime of mine for as long as I can remember

fascinated by the lightness of it

the strange structures revealed as layers of the tree are washed away

cracks and whorls, lines etched both lightly and deeply

rough textures on one side, smooth as silk on the other

I love it all... the look, the feel,  and as I turn them this way and that to see what remains of what was once a tree I wonder at how they came to be where they are

over time and distance what was once a tree has been stripped away and what I'm left with in my hand is a record of that transformation

and yet it feels like there is more to it than just that

to feed my curiosity about how water and wind leave their mark on the wood and the transformations they craft I'm starting a small field notebook

a place to do a quick sketch

record a thought or two about what I see

what I think

what might have been

and as I couldn't find one of just the right size with just the right paper, I'm making my own... 

 beginning with a few signatures made to look like small notebooks in and of themselves

 I'll be working in them over the coming weeks

and when I get home they, and a few more, will be bound into a small leather-bound notebook I can continue to carry with me whenever I have the urge to go on a beach walk

tomorrow I'm take one of these and my urge and heading to Kluane Lake

to see what I can see

take care,

Jillayne

in the landscape

back in the land, and landscape I love...

arrived one week ago today and has it been a whirlwind

lots of visiting with family and friends, playing with the grandkids over and over and over again and several splendid walks along the river and through the bush not to mention three days of camping in the midst of tall, tall trees and a wild creek

happy and tired

four weeks to go

the day after I arrived I tagged along on a playdate with the kids and managed a couple of short river walks, one to skip stones with a special seven year-old and the other taking a number of photos of these...

clambering over a pile of large sharp boulders meant to protect the river bank from erosion during some the extreme high water occurring these past several years I managed to get a few good closeups of the wood texture and grain

serious creative fodder

before I left Salmon Arm I printed a few images of driftwood planks I had from the  Taku Arm of Tagish Lake

I hadn't completed Day 30 of the Sketchbook Challenge and knew I would be doing it whilst in the north...  the prompt was to just do whatever came to mind, to explore what mattered to you in a way that pleased you based on everything you had learned about yourself and your preferred methods along the way

and so, I did this

though I used the prints of wood from Taku I now have the above close-ups above so going forward they will be appearing my work with the pilings as and when

as ever, there is more to be done but this is all I could manage before said camping trip and as I'm just squeaking in under the wire with this post so I'll post the finished version next Saturday

in the meanwhile I'll be hanging out at the intersection of Pure Delight and Creative Inspiration!

take care,

Jillayne