.dune trail on 35mm.

I finally developed a roll of film from my trip to the cape this past November. Of course, the roll was mostly pictures of the dune trail. I'm not sure why I hadn't done this walk before. Being that I went in November, I had the trail to myself - fully engulfed in the dunes. It's pure cape cod magic with undulating dunes just a few minutes drive from the seasonally chaotic ptown. Within a few minutes of walking, the presence of town and the highway fade away, transported to another world. Walking up and down the dunes, the views expand and contract, and sounds rise and fall. Then, after maybe a mile of walking in the sand, a final hill brings you to the wild open waters. The trail offers a short beach walk and then loops back inland. As you climb back up into the dunes, suddenly, tiny weathered dune shacks appear. These little artist retreats are the ultimate off-grid residency. I was reading The Creative Act by Rick Rubin (again!) this morning, and a quote stood out to me. He wrote, "when we build our awareness, the universe expands." The silence and solitude of these dune shacks - I wonder about all the art that has come from such an expansive space.

.cycles.

Brown pine needles, ultra fine powdered soil, yarrow buds, and fleeting balsamroot blooms. It doesn't look like much, but it smells like summer and childhood and remembrance to me. As I was holding this thought - connecting to the now and then, the quiet roar of the river roar was broken with a mom biking with her small child in a trailer across the river saying "can you smell that nice pine cone smell?" that same moment I was holding my Nana teaching me that. It goes on, it continues - the child answered enthusiastically "yes yes!" The cycle of it all.

.where the mountains of north carolina and ecuador meet.

I woke up early, it’s a rainy overcast day here and the mountains have been calling me. I decided to drive to a waterfall hike nearby. Driving east the highway cuts thru the Pisgah National Forest where the fog was so thick there were moments of whiteout: magical and strange I turned my wipers on high then realizing there was nothing that would allow me to see further except to just slow down. It felt like a bigger lesson/reminder for me than just for fog driving.

The trail was so lush and green with tall tree towering over the pathway, almost blocking out the rain the cover was so thick. The air was heavy with humidity. It’s such an odd feeling when you’ve grown up in the Pacific Northwest, rain will almost always means cold. The wet earth and plants had such a familiar musty smell. I looked up to see the overcast light peeking thru the leaves and realized that I could’ve been in Ecuador with very few differences. I kept walking and was overwhelmed by the feeling that for a moment I was transported back to thick green humid forests of the cloud forest of Ecuador where I lived for 2 years while serving in the Peace Corps. I thought about my time there, another life ago. I thought about all the places I’ve lived and thought about all the beautiful, complex, impactful, forgotten, intricate layers we are all comprised of that make us these beautiful evolving pieces of art.

I’m so grateful to be so close to these North Carolina/Ecuador mountains that remind me of where my journeys intersect and overlap. Time seems strange and false in moments like these.

.make time to visit.

I'm out west in the arid foothills of the cascade mountains, my hometown. I've been going on daily walks in my favorite places. I cherish so many corners of this place - the colors + textures and the knowing of a place so deeply. 

Three days ago I went on a hike and looked at a sagebrush I remembered collecting sage from years ago. Yesterday, I went on a hike and remembered my favorite patch of winter blooms from a visit last year. Today I walked next to the Columbia river and remembered hot summer days of kayaking thru inlets and that cove where the sparrows sit in the high trees and squak so loud it drowns out the sound of traffic that echoes of the empty field next to the trail. Maybe it's because I travel so much that there is such a richness to visit these dear places, again and again or maybe it's just the connection I have to here because it's the land that raised me. 

I'm so grateful for it - this land feeds me. It taught me how to have a relationship with land. I walk these special corners with such gratitude of the colors + textures + sounds. 

Do you have places you visit? Where are there? Are they places you've known forever or are they new? 

.winter forging.

 

 I went on a walk last week and found this amazing willow tree. The yellow branches are my favorite color - so I collected some. I love watching art unfolding itself in its own time. I am finishing up my first wood project, a table and realized that these willow branches will make for a perfect natural fiber to include in the weaving. I went back today to collect more. I'm excited to share it with you, soon.

.chicago.

I am back in Chicago after many months. It's so strangely familiar feeling being back here. I have a art show with my dear metalsmith friend/mentor this weekend. It's a big step for my jewelry - I haven't done an art show for years now and I am thrilled to be back at it!

I am feeling so inspired right now with all the sights and perspectives of being in a familiar space and getting reacquainted with it.