Nature Makes Stunning Things

The opportunity and desire to design and work in a more tactile fashion has been an ongoing internal conversation I've been having with myself over the past year. Building, installing and manipulating objects is something that I thoroughly miss, and when given the chance I dedicate myself to. Um . . . fervently might be an apt descriptor.

I've recently, been channeling an excess of creativity and have been doing everything from design, to web, to painting, to sculpture to what I loosely call 'crafting'. (Because crafts make me think of scrapbooking and childhood summer camp lanyards, which doesn't really reflect the artistic projects that I create.)

So I've literally been walking past mossy branches that have fallen off the trees in the Fraser-hood for WEEKS, marveling at how crazy beautiful nature makes things and longing to pick them up. They are absolutely spectacular, and are probably even more charming to this Alberta girl who largely grew up in a dry climate where moss and lichen doesn't over take the wood to the same extent as it does here in Vancouver. (I'm in constant awe of the natural environment here.  Serious inspiration overload.)

As luck would have it the bare wall above my sofa has been crying out for some decoration and seeing as most of the other things hanging in my space are in the painting/print/photography vein I thought it might be the perfect opportunity to bring the outdoors in and dress up the wall at the same time with an small installation, putting those recently broken branches into good use. And bonus! A chance to do something handsy! Hoo-ray.

  

The resultant tree branch wall hanging I assembled using assorted mossy branches I collected, which were hot glued together haphazardly, but in a roughly straight format. The flower details I fashioned out of recycled paper. The red ones are tissue, with a wicked delicate quality as the light glows through them. The blue are made from the wrap that my new teapot came home in a while ago (love that colour. love.) And the yellow I made from a combination of unbleached and dyed coffee filters left over from a recent project I will soon be posting. I added the textural yellow paper and a little spanish moss to each for added detail and to tie them into the branches themselves. After attaching the flowers,  I added the dangling feathers and strung the whole thing from my window sill, which nicely compliments the seashells I have scattered there and gives the whole wall a homey natural aesthetic.

My place is teasingly referred to as the 'Princess Palace' by some of my friends. That's weirdly embarrassing to say online. Thankfully it's not in the over-the-top pink frou-frou way (actually little to no pink to be found), but more because my personal style errs on the side of simple and feminine, with pretty repurposed and natural boho elements.

Anyway, enough said. I'm pretty jazzed with this newest addition.