The ‘getting going” portion of my new project is the most difficult. Nest, a transparent tapestry that has been planned in my head for many months, is now almost complete as a weaving cartoon on paper. I’m in the messy part – adapting photos, coloring, drawing, fixing, adjusting scale, printing out adjusted images, cutting, taping – all the while visualizing the finished piece.
The weaving was inspired by an article in the Star Tribune on October 28, 2022, “Minnesota’s forests a haven where rare bird still sings,” by Greg Stanley, with photographs by Brian Peterson. The article was part of an excellent series in the newspaper, “Our Vanishing North.” While news of environmental issues can feel like a continuing assault and generate feelings of hopelessness and loss, these articles also focused on dedicated people trying to address the habitats and polices needed to help species survive.
The golden-winged warbler winters in Central America, traveling 3500 miles each summer to northern Minnesota. Half of all golden warblers in existence breed in the forests of our state. They like a mixed forest landscape, with basswood, aspen, and oak trees. The warblers require dense ground cover, grasses and wildflowers like goldenrod and aster; their nests are near the ground.
I admire the on-the-ground attempts of conservationists to actively combat the increasing monoculture of forest areas to provide a more traditional mixed habitat needed for many plants and animals. From the article:
[Peter] Dieser and the American Bird Conservancy have been painstakingly trying to reintroduce that more natural blend of ages and plants. They do it by mimicking wind and wildfire: cutting down some trees, mowing back some brush, leaving some places undisturbed. Much of their work, and that of other researchers, is paid for with the voter-approved Outdoor Heritage Fund and the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. What they leave behind seems to be perfect for the warblers. Within a few years, the birds returned to nest at about 90% of the sites they’ve managed in Minnesota.
The golden-winged warblers are small birds, about the size of a chickadee. I liked the fishing lure image in this description of vulnerable newly-hatched warblers.
The most dangerous time to be a golden-winged warbler seems to be the first seven days after they leave the nest, said Alexis Grinde, a wildlife ecologist at the Natural Resources Research Institute in Duluth. “When they’re just learning how to fly, they look like a fishing lure in the forest, and any predator can come grab them,” she said. Garter snakes will destroy eggs or eat the young. So too will raccoons and birds of prey. Heavy rains will wash out nests.
I visualized a mixture of trees for my tapestry, with small bright “fishing lure” flashes of small birds. Instead the main frame holds William Morris-inspired oak leaves with three golden-winged warblers. Their scale within the image fit my aesthetics, not any sense of reality. This photo shows my experiments with how large the birds should be, along with a test woven warbler that will be much improved in its final form. There will be borders of asters and aspen leaves along the bottom.
This will be the biggest piece I’ve woven in Frida Hansen’s wool open warp transparency technique (28″ wide, 50?’ long). It will be interesting to see how long it will take to complete. Just a few more decisions to go before I’ll pick up my favorite fish fork and weave: Side border? No side border? Stripes between the bottom borders? Add the magenta?
Thank you for these wonderful messages……so appreciate what you are doing and how you do it.