“Winter will pass, the days will lengthen, the ice will melt in the pasture pond. The song sparrow will return and sing, the frogs will awake, the warm wind will blow again. All these sights and sounds and smells will be yours to enjoy, Wilbur—this lovely world, these precious days…”
E. B. White, Charlotte’s Web
#spring #hope #lentenrose #hellebore #helleborusorientalis #ebwhite #charlottesweb
Even though it appears to be a Shaggy Parasol Mushroom, Chlorophyllum rhacodes, that recently popped up in the garden, some deception might be afoot. Chlorophyllum molybdites, the False Parasol, is a look alike, so common in yards and gardens that it’s the most eaten poisonous mushroom in North America. Also called the Vomiter Mushroom, it’s generally not fatal, though victims can expect to feel like death.
Happy Halloween!
pokeweed linocut
Poke.Salad
Pokeweed, Phytolacca americana
relief print
poke.salad relief print
American Pokeweed goes by many names, including poke, poke sallet, pokeberry, dragonberries, scoke, crowberry, inkberry, pigeonberry weed, and American nightshade (though poke is not a member of the nightshade/Solanaceae family). It’s also referred to as polk – supporters of James Polk wore sprigs of this plant in their lapels during his 1845 presidential campaign. Any of these common names would be inspiration enough for the design of a relief print, but, really, why resist the connection to Tony Joe White’s late 60s hit song, Polk Salad Annie?!
White wrote Polk Salad Annie in 1968 and released the recording in 1969; Elvis Presley added it to his live shows in 1970.
“Down there we have a plant that grows out in the woods and the fields
Looks somethin’ like a turnip green
Everybody calls it polk salad . . .
Used to know a girl that lived down there
And she′d go out in the evenings and pick her a mess of it
Carry it home and cook it for supper
′Cause that’s about all they had to eat
They did alright. . . “
All parts of Pokeweed are toxic, so Annie surely must have boiled only young leaves in several changes of water to avoid being poisoned. According to the chorus granny met a very different fate.
Give it a listen:
https://youtu.be/IBfMLmNjFn4?feature=shared
#printmaking #reliefprint #linocut #poisonplants #botanical #pokeweed #polksaladannie #tonyjoewhite #aspotentasacharm
‘gator (poke.salad detail)
pokeweed in the garden
With its sweet, bell-like flowers and heavenly scent, it’s easy to forget that Lily of the Valley is poisonous. It will soon be added to the As Potent as a Charm print series, but working on this version has found me sidetracked by a songbird. Legend has it that a nightingale would not return to the woods until the lily of the valley was in bloom. Among the tales of lily of the valley, this is one of my favorites, and it seemed fitting to include it in the new relief print.
About the nightingale, though – I quickly realized that I knew nothing about its appearance or song, other than the many cultural references in literature and music. How could I have missed such a popular bird? It wasn’t even included in any of my many bird guides, with one telling exception: Song Birds of the World, an old Golden guide book from a long ago library sale. Every other volume contained only North American (mainly Eastern) birds. That is when I realized why I’d neither seen, nor heard, a nightingale. It is native to the old world, residing in Europe and wintering in sub-Saharan Africa. Familiarity with fairy tales and poems made the nightingale seem familiar, too, even though its home is half a world away.
Somewhat smaller than an American Robin (a little larger than European robins), the brown-feathered nightingale is fairly nondescript – until it sings, that is. Its song is why it has been revered by poets and musicians for centuries.
The nightingale has been added to the reeds in the sketch and, following the addition of the lilies of the valley, was refined and inked for transferring to the block.
Last fall I was pleased to be one of five artists chosen to participate in the Summit ReWorks ‘Reframing Recycling’ photography project. ReWorks recently posted the photos in a short series of YouTube videos (at ReWorks Reframing Recycling).
Each artist received a recyclable item: cardboard, paper, a metal can, plastic bottle, or carton. All were then asked to use the object as the subject of three photographs: the original item (as-is), a process shot (state of change), and the final transformation. The object could be physically changed (crushed, sliced, etc.) but no additional materials could be added. The photograph(s) would then be altered through digital manipulation, filters, layers, etc.
My recyclable was a white detergent bottle. I approached it with zero preconceived notions, insuring that the journey from start to finish was engaging, fun, and unpredictable.
Artist’s Statement
Photographing the stark, white detergent bottle with no visible labeling allowed me to view it as a blank canvas, open to a myriad possibilities.
Beyond my first inclination, to simply cut apart the plastic bottle, I did not choose a specific method of alteration. Each step suggested its own follow-up, which practically insured that the final image would have little resemblance to early ideas. One morning, nearing completion, the angle of autumn sunlight in the studio changed my approach yet again. Had there not been a deadline I’d probably still be playing with the imagery!
While working on this project I gained an increased appreciation for those who have developed processes to recycle the seemingly indestructible plastics that are part of everyday life. It’s not difficult to imagine trashed detergent bottles lasting forever. May a continued cycle of reuse replace that of disposal and accumulation.
I appreciate the opportunity to participate in the Reframing Recycling project. Earlier I mentioned that it was like falling down a rabbit hole with a detergent bottle, and it was. Thank you for this engaging and fun experience!
Joan Colbert 2020
. . . living up to all of the quotes and clichés this year!
