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