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Mondays are always good for me because while doing all the household things like laundry, making beds, and picking up, I get to work in my studio.  Having to stop and do more housework helps me think about what to do next!  Sometimes that works out perfectly, and sometimes leaving the scene of creation only hinders my creativity.  But yesterday, I already knew what I had to do, and squeezing in some art always seemed to work out.  Ok I’ll admit, sometimes getting the laundry finished, and cleaning up the dishes isn’t always the first thing I think about, but it always is completed by the end of the day.

Yesterday I finally finished a weaving on canvas that I’ve been working on for quite a while.  At the time it was started I didn’t have a clue as to where it would go, so I started weaving together an abstract tree painting, with copper foil, and cork.  When that was finished it seemed to need texture behind it, that is how the burlap ended up on the canvas.  Once that was glued, it stopped speaking to me!  Maybe it was tired of playing, or maybe I was tired of playing, which ever it was – we were both finished!  Over a period of weeks, I would drag it out and look at it with questioning eyes.  When will it tell me the direction to go?  Monday that happened!

My studio is a mess, and you need to know that very little art gets created this  time of year!  Mostly I get caught up in, ideas for gifts,  holiday shopping, and wrapping.  One of the things that was being put away were a few pieces of flattened Mela Luca bark that Daisy, and I found on our first walk together after a rain.  They were laying on the ground ladened with moisture, and the minute I spotted them I knew they had to  come home with us!   After  they were rinsed off, put outside in the sun to dry, they made their way into my studio, and tossed onto the table.  My thought was to use them in art, but the other thing I was thinking, and I’m positive Daisy was thinking it also,  Was I crazy for saving this bark?   Being a mixed media artist that I am, that was quickly put out of my mind!  But yesterday, as I was organizing, I picked up my burlap covered canvas, and it started to speak.  When I spotted the bark sitting on my table, I immediately thought it would be perfect in the woven painting.  Gathering up all my goodies to put together with this piece seemed a no brainer, and I knew it would work.  The burlap weaving finally spoke, and this is what it said….

Put the bark down first, then some dark brown burlap threads, a little more copper,  a crow on top,  and I’m finished!

The crow was a  figure that was made a couple of years ago out of clay.  I love crows, they somehow speak to me, and I use them often in my work  Until now I really didn’t know what to do with the crow, but I guess I wasn’t crazy for bringing home the soggy, rain drenched bark after all!