It's Autumn!

Alongside falling leaves and harvest festivals, the season brings its own special sort of spiced inspiration. A few things that stand out to me this season:

1) Apples! Traditionally, the harvest season brings promises of spiced cider, apple pie, and dumplings. While these points are certainly inspiring to my appetite, the aspect that encourages creation is color. From the dark, deep red of the Delicious variety, to the bright red of the McIntosh, to the golden yellow-green of the Golden Delicious, the pigmentation of the fruit’s skin represents a color pallet that is both perfectly in season and wonderfully inspirational.

2) Warm, wolly coats are another sure sign of season change. Back at the farm this weekend, I was greeted with the unmistakable stench of wet sheep. Ew. Though the smell was not exactly inspiring, it did remind me of a project that I had seen that is related to our latest assignment in stop-motion experimentation. Art group (really just shepherds) Baaa-Studs used their own unique medium – sheep covered in LED blankets – to create fun stop-motion pieces. While not exactly high fine art, this project is a lot of fun to watch and certainly inspiring in its efforts.

3) The third sure sign of the season: mummified chicken feet. Over the summer, I researched and experimented with Native American preservation techniques used in the production of talismans and traditional costumes. The processes take many months to fully complete, so I was not able to witness the results until this weekend. The methods themselves are based in the processes of desiccation (drying) or maceration (putrefying).

The foot project was completed using parts that I had saved after my flock was attacked by an owl. I cleaned the limbs using wire snips, smoked them over a young pine fire, and then packed them in a mixture of cornmeal and salt. After several months in a dry storage cellar, the feet were fully dry and could be brushed off for viewing. The natural beauty, patterns, and textures were enhanced as the moisture was drawn out of the tissue, preserving the elements of natural design as long as the feet are kept dry. This beauty, as well as the methods behind the process are inspiring to me because of the interest and value they create out of natural objects.