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