Welcome Spring!

Harvesting the Blue Potato will be on display at the Zhou B Art Center from April 20th to June 9th. The above image is a close-up of the piece, it's about 5 x 7 feet. The show is called Chicago's Twelve: Twelve Artists Mobilizing the Earth. I am super excited to be a part of this! The opening reception will be April 20th, 7-10pm, just in time for Earth Day.

I saw the wall I have to show my work and realized my piece would be swamped by white wall, so I am in the process of making it larger. At least 250 potatoes larger!

Here is 156 of them cut out.

After I am done painting them, I will connect them to the cycle with jute and wheat flour glue.

Jacob and I took a walk around our lovely home, Roger's Park. I looked up and in the trees was a spazzy little bird, a woodpecker!

He was on a pecking mission.

We stopped by Ruby garden because I wanted to see all the soil before the green comes. It is amazing how much one space can change in such a short amount of time. I can't wait!

This sort of flower was popping up in random places all over. It seems to be the only flower ready to bloom at the moment. *Anyone know what kind of flower it is? This lady was growing all alone in a 6 x 8 feet square of dirt.

*My friend Kristin let me know it is a crocus! "Usually the first to bloom in the spring!"

Vanishing of the Bees

A couple of weeks ago I stopped by Ruby Garden to see what was growing. Many vegetables are done for the season so gardeners have planted a lot of flowers in place of the veggies. There were so many butterflies and bumble bees. I use to never pay attention to a butterfly or a bee. I thought the butterfly was boring and a bee would sting me. But having spent some of my summer on a farm, I started to really understand how beautiful every living thing is and how we all affect one another. A friend of mine just got back from a sustainable farm in Hawaii and he told me that he looks at plants in a different way now and he can identify them. I feel like I am beginning to understand the natural world more and appreciate everything about it. When only a few months ago a bee was an enemy, the sun was too hot, the wind was too windy and if I'd seen one tree, I'd seen em all. To not feel so detached from the world around me is an amazing feeling. My days are much more peaceful and inspiring. So much is beautiful and exciting to me now.

I had heard about bees dying or vanishing but had never taken the time to learn about it. But a couple nights ago I finally decided I should learn. I watched this documentary called"Vanishing Of The Bees" to get some information and I was horribly surprised. Bees are actually vanishing and people aren't too sure why. One week a colony of bees will be flourishing and two weeks later the farmer finds a bunch dead and the rest gone. This is called Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD. Many of the farmers believe it may be due to the pesticides in plants. When they go to collect the nectar the pesticide gets in their system and disorients them so that they aren't as sure of what to do and possibly how to get back home. This also makes them more susceptible to disease. It is yet again another example of how mass production and pesticides is ruining the order of the natural world.

Right now you can watch the documentary on Netflix in the instant section.

Butterflies let you get very close...I had about 20 pictures to choose from. They were all over the garden! And two weeks ago, when I was on the farm, there were a ton of caterpillars...so it must be butterfly season. I even found a fluffy brown caterpillar on Rachel's hat.

And the hard working Bee.

'The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others." -Saint John Chrysostom