Rain, rain go away...

As you've already guessed, it's raining here today. It's also just a bit cold with temps in the mid-40's. Not exactly my idea of spring, but Mother Nature has a mind of her own and seems to have decided that this is what is needed today.

While I'd much prefer clear blue skies and warmth, the rain is welcome for it's effect on the cairn.

My neighbors are aware of my artistic bent so, hopefully, none found the sight of me in the rain precariously balancing a golf umbrella in an attempt to keep my digital camera dry long enough to take a few pictures of the cairn too odd. And if they did, well...hopefully they had a good chuckle over it.

This post is from April 2010 and has been reposted as part of The Altered Page's Buried Treasure hunt. It seemed appropriate today since the weather is much the same. The cairn has been dismantled though. If interested, just search on "cairn" for more posts re: the outcome.

Cairn #1 Unwrapped - Elements 5 & 6

More of the cairn being unwrapped.

Element 5

 I love the marks left by mold/mildew. 

Element 6

Another of the reasons I'm loath to wash this fabric is the lovely indentations left in the cotton by the rusted elements. Then again, my curiousity is peaked wondering how the rusted areas will look sans indentations and wrinkles.

Cairn #1 Unwrapped - Elements 3 & 4

Element 3 is the piece of the cairn that was played with most. Depending on the day, it could be found leaning against the bottom, sunbathing on the very top or hiding in the middle. A few times, it even seemed that #3 was attempting an escape since it was found in the flower bed by the steps...a mere 6 or 7 feet from where the cairn lived. How it got there is still a mystery, but I suspect that little hands - aka one or both of my daughters - had something to do with it.

The pointy impressions left in the cotton were a very pleasant surprise. I'm loath the wash this piece for fear of destroying them. Thanks to Fiona Dempster over at Paper Ponderings for telling me about her tree wrappings using rusted fabrics, this piece may just find a new life outside wrapped around something. Not quite sure what yet. Our mailbox maybe.

Element 4 created a beautiful rusted pattern on the cotton. The next time this piece is wrapped, I'd like to see what can be done to get the connections to show.  Or the holes for that matter. Maybe if this was the base of the cairn #2...

Cairn #1 Unwrapped - Elements 1 & 2 of 7

If you had been in my studio last Wednesday morning, you would have heard lots of oohs and aahs being uttered along with a few....um...words of the variety that are more muttered under one's breath than uttered aloud for all to hear. You know the words I mean. Those colorful ones escaped when I tripped over the tripod - twice - in my enthusiasm to see what the next unwrapping would reveal.

Element 1 was actually 2 pieces that I'd laid the cotton between and then wrapped. After rusting together for over a year, it took a few hits with a hammer to separate them.

Element 2 was wrapped with a much smaller piece of cotton. Still, I like the result.

By the way, several pieces of cotton have black marks on them which I'm assuming is mold from being outside and getting thoroughly drenched repeatedly. This first round of photos were taken as I unwrapped the rusted elements. Whenever I become brave enough to wash the cotton, a second round of photos will be taken.

And, as yet, I have no idea what the future holds for the rusted cotton. Any ideas?

Cairn #1 Unwrapped

 

While my daughters were at preschool this morning, I finally got to do what I've been wanting to do since the 2011 Snow/Ice Age ended and the cairn was visible again. Yes. Cairn #1 is has been unwrapped and photographed. 

The above photo is a bit of teaser. Sorry about that. Give me time to sift through all the shots, pick the best and edit them. May take a few days because our third round of visitors since my return from Washington, DC is due to arrive very soon.

Cairn 1 - Countdown

Cairn #1 is waiting to be unwrapped and revealed after my trip to Washington, DC this week.

 

The rest of April is going to be very busy with my own trip and then with family and friends coming to visit. Still, I am far too curious to see what effect Mother Nature and the rusted bits have had on the cotton wrapping. 

Time will be found. 

Photos will be taken.

One more week.

Mother Nature strikes again

Mother Nature and I need to have a serious discussion on what it means weather-wise when, according to the calendar, spring has arrived. She threw snow at us Monday which was followed by a misty/drizzly sort of rain which washed the snow away overnight. Then yesterday, She decides we need more snow. 

So...another 2" later, the cairn is still standing and bravely taking whatever comes its way.

Cairn - restacked

Cairn #1 has been re-stacked for one last month. I can't believe it has nearly been a year since it was wrapped and stacked to brave the elements and occasionally curious dog as well as my girls. 

Fallen cairn

Last April I combined my love of rust and fiber by wrapping white cotton around various rusted items that I had bought at a scrap metal place. Once wrapped, the pieces were stacked as a cairn by our front steps.

Occasionally, the neighboring dog would come to visit and end up knocking the cairn over. Each time, I re-stacked the pieces and renewed my vow to leave it out for at least a year so Mother Nature could work her magic with the cotton and rust. 

Today the cairn became visible again for the first time since December 26...when our winter of snow began. 

It is a mystery just what caused the cairn to topple again. I don't remember it being on the ground before the snow began, but my memory is not quite what it once was and we really did have a lot of snow this year. 

I must admit to being very curious to see what the rust looks like once the cotton is opened up. So, the big question is whether to wait until April to do so or is March close enough to it being a year?

Fallen cairn

When I went outside this morning to pick mint for tea, it was to find that tragedy had struck. The cairn had fallen.

Actually, it was most likely a nosey deer that had struck overnight and tumbled the cairn. Odd place for the deer to be, but considering that last year those lilies were a favorite deer snack, I'm a bit surprised that this hasn't happened more often.

Before restacking the elements, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity that the deer had given me  and unwrapped one of the pieces to see how things were going.

 

After appeasing my curiousity, I restacked the cairn.

Wonder how long this iteration will stand against nosey deer?

Thanks Deb!

Don't you love receiving unexpected gifts? I do...especially when it's something as wonderful as what my friend and fellow fiber artist, Deb Jansen, sent.

Actually, Deb's gift wasn't totally unexpected. She'd let me know that she'd sent a gift for my daughters and that there was a little something for me in the box as well. Her only clue as to what it was was a comment about preferring it wrinkled.

Wrinkled, huh? Hmmm... I admit to being stumped. Considering that Deb works with silk and sometimes creates scarves after dyeing, painting and embellishing it...well...you can see which direction my thoughts took. When the box arrived Monday, I couldn't wait to open it and see what wrinkly gift it held.

Wondering why there's photo of fabric spewing out of a box? That's my wrinkly gift and I love it! As Deb explained, this is the remnant of the fabric her silk is wrapped in, or around?, when she steams it. The cotton is luscious...a very pale cream and so soft it's sinful. 

Can you believe Deb sent this expecting it to be wrapped around rusted elements and left outside for nature to play with?

She did and I'm going to, but first I just had to share its wrinkly lusciousness with you.

If you're ever in Alexandria, VA and love art, stop by the Torpedo Factory Art Center. For a real treat, venture upstairs to studio 344 and say hi to Deb. Ask her about paint markers while you're there. And Catharsis & Karma and Windows and....