Last week’s wild, windy weather brought me an unexpected gift in the shape of a big, fallen nest. It’s the most fabulous structure and there’s no way my photography can do justice to the intricacy and sheer ingenious use of materials in this nest. I admire the perseverance it must take to gather and fashion this motley collection of both natural and man made materials into a home for infant birds. A strong bird built this one – heavy gauge wire, both new and rusted, small pieces of chicken wire (oh, the irony!) cotton, string, branchlets and hundreds of strands of varied fibres are built into this lovely sturdy nest. I’m in awe.
Birds have been on my mind. This weekend I spent a quiet hour or two playing around with disassembling photographs of things I’ve made previously and reassembling them with new components. The big, leathery leaves of Ficus macrophylla are particularly wonderful, changing colour from yellow to ochre and deeper brown on my desk as the days pass and I like the way copied driftwood from this piece remind me of seabird bones. Lots of connections – just like in the natural world.
Nothing Nicer Anywhere 