just the beginning.

just so you all know... it has been like 20-30 below zero (depending on the wind chill) for the past few days. No joke. I've been here for four years now, but I just don't remember it being this cold. We are talking dangerously cold.

A friend introduced me to some work by a man named Andy Goldsworthy. He is considered an environmental sculptor, which means he uses natural things that he finds to create sculpture. Go figure. It involves a lot of stacking and what have you, but I have been particularly taken with his work in ice. Well everyday I look at icicles, and now I just can't see them the same. I almost feel bad that I wasn't using them sooner for sculpture. So, tonight I made my first attempt at a piece using icicles. It's almost like free art supplies. I just started taking icicles off the roof and I had a cup of water and I was realigning them pointing upward on the railing. It was crazy to listen to the water start to freeze. There is a very quiet crackle, the kind of sound you would associate with a frozen body of water being stepped on. The even crazier thing was how quickly this room temperature water had frozen veins down it. It literally took only seconds (it was also -18).

Tonight was just a practice though. I was just getting a feel for the timing of things. Not only that, I have a feeling that by noon tomorrow everyone of them will be gone and shattered. Whatever. Anyway I am making plans now for some more ice pieces. Some of them will be collaborations, and will involve some sneakiness.

I am so happy about the response to City Park. Because there has been so much hoorah, I have decided to make a pattern for the little City Park Bird. So feel free to use him on your quilt or a bag or an apron, and just know he came from the city

If you want to make him into a little stuffed bird, just double the body and leave room for a seam allowance. You could puts his wings and face on both sides (face down the seam so his eyes are on both sides) but I tend to leave them on one side. Make it as you wish. Let me know how it goes though. I would love to see this little bird all over.