Invisible Woman

DBG: Elf magic!

  

This little Elf Owl and several of its friends have been working their magic at the Desert Botanical Garden this week, challenging birders and photographers to spot them roosting during the day along the upright trunks of this densely-leaved Acacia tree.

This is only the second time Elf Owls have been seen at DBG in about 5 years, according to veteran DBG birders. For many of us, these were our first sightings, and most of us quickly fell under their spell.

Elf Owls are the smallest owls in the US, only about 5 1/2 inches tall... about the size of a sparrow, even smaller than my hand!

A birder at the DBG first spotted them in the Wildflower Garden several weeks ago. Last Monday, we saw four in this tree along the main trail, but fewer were seen on subsequent days. This is their migration season, so they'll soon head to central Mexico, and return to Arizona next March to prepare for breeding.

I feel pretty lucky to have had the chance to observe and photograph these magical little creatures this week.

 

here today, and gone...

 
She was actually here all day last Saturday, and then gone by the next morning.

John first noticed her around 8 a.m. at the orange Mexican Bird of Paradise shrub just outside our back fence.

 
We immediately recognized by her brown belly markings that she was different from our usual hummingbirds, so I set about taking photos to try to ID her.

It was not a quick project, but a good excuse to just sit in the backyard with binoculars and camera at hand.

 
For most of the day, she visited for a few minutes every half hour or so, quietly making her way around the plant.

She never came into the yard to visit our nectar feeders, even though they were nearby and in plain view.

She appeared to rest in a tree farther out across the wash (desert ravine) when she wasn't feeding.

She was shy of us coming close, so I had to take photos from a distance, aiming between the bars of the fence.

 
Late in the day, as the sun began to disappear over the mountains, she visited more often, finally attracting the notice of one of our backyard bully Costa's males.

He challenged her, and they had a few aerial skirmishes, but she held her ground and continued to visit till the sun had set.

We were not entirely surprised that she was gone Sunday morning.

We were just glad that she had shared her tiny beauty with us for a day, and reminded us of the value of quietly sitting and looking and sometimes, if we're lucky, seeing something very fleeting and very special.

She was a female Calliope Hummingbird, uncommon in our area, migrating south to warmer climates for the winter.

 

DBG: a long-overdue visit

 
Yesterday I finally made it back to the Desert Botanical Garden, after several long months' heat/humidity-induced hiatus. (Translation: I'm a Phoenix summer wimp.)

 

  
Just through the entry gate, I was greeted by this giant praying mantis sculpture. It was the first of many of David Rogers' Big Bugs I encountered throughout the DBG. Pretty amazing!

 

 
There were flocks of goldfinches, quail, and even our local wild-adapted lovebirds enjoying the late summer seed bounty. I've updated my DBG Flickr set with the newest photos -- you can see the slideshow here, or click through the set here.

Now that our weather is moderating, I hope to be back at the DBG often.

  

through my window: sunshine

 

This morning, through the window

 

Unexpected sunshine caught my eye.

 

Dancing in the shadows.

 

Tiny joy.

 *     *     *     *     *

A good omen, I hope --

The first Wilson's Warbler I've ever seen in our yard in 5+ years of birdwatching here.

He's probably just passing through, migrating south.

Sharing his sunshine here for a morning.

 

a week ago

   A week ago, almost to the minute...

 
"The Patient Husband"

we had arrived in Evanston and were walking from the hotel to our friend Bob's house, when we took a quick detour through the Rose Garden (officially the Merrick Rose Garden) at Lake Street and Oak Avenue, just two blocks from where we'd lived long ago.

John is a good sport when the camera in my hand gets the better of my attention. After his own tour of the roses (they were in fine bloom) he took my bag and sat off in a quiet corner, checking his Blackberry to pass the time. He never complains about my photo delays and detours.

Anyway, here's a link to the Flickr photo slideshow of our 48 hours in & around Evanston, more nostalgic than artistic for me. Wish now I'd taken more photos, but I guess we were busy taking it all in, which is as it should be. 

 

American Craft Expo 2011

  
(Program cover, featuring "Gilded Coral Nest" by ceramic artist Jennifer McCurdy.)

Our recent weekend in Evanston was planned to coincide with the American Craft Expo, sponsored by the Auxiliary of Evanston & Glenbrook Hospitals to benefit ovarian cancer research. Our three kids were born at Evanston Hospital, and my maternal grandmother and several friends lost their lives to ovarian cancer, so those aspects added special meaning to this benefit for me.

I took no photos at the show (not even sure if I could have, but bringing a camera just didn't feel right) so all photos below are images from the artists' promotional materials or websites.

We arrived Saturday morning at 10 when the doors opened. You always need a browsing strategy for big shows in order not to miss anything, and ours was to start at the back and work our way forward, row by row. Seeing all 150 artists took us 4 hours, and revisits took an extra hour.

Here are some of our favorite artists from the show, with links to their websites:

 

Fiber artist Sandi Garris. Very inspiring use of color & form, in both her geometric & organic styles. Her pieces are made of hand-dyed cottons, machine stitched, then mounted & framed.

 

Fiber artist Renee Harris. Love!!! My first time seeing her work in person, after admiring it online for years. Photos just don't do justice to her pieces. Fabulous textures & mixing of paper, cloth & stitches, beautifully framed.

 

 

Glass artists Peter Muller & Joe Peters. These sea creatures are created by Joe's borosilicate torchwork, while the portal bowls framing them are furnace blown and then cut and shaped by Peter. Incredibly detailed work. A perfect collaboration.

 

 

Ceramic artist Rick Hintze. We especially liked his earthy matte/crackle glazed vessels, but I couldn't find a photo of those. Great shapes and textures.

 

Basket artist Jennifer Heller Zurick. She harvests Black Willow bark and completely processes it herself. She then weaves it free-form into baskets, large and small. Extremely appealing pieces, very warm and intricately patterned.

 

 
Fiber artist Sally Jones. Sally had beautiful hand-screened silk tops and scarves. My favorite style isn't shown on her website -- her block-pieced silk scarves featuring 5 or more colors/patterns. She had sold out of the color group I liked best, and offered to custom make one for me.

 

 

Ceramic artist Larry Richmond. His work combines pottery with fiber and wood accents.  Beautiful shapes, patterns and textures.

 

 Jewelry artist Deb Karash. Deb is one of my all-time favorite artists. She's developed a process in which she applies layers of Prismacolor pencil to a patinated copper shape, seals it, and then mounts the colored piece with brass rivets to a textured sterling silver backdrop. Her pieces have all the elements I love -- a fanciful take on nature, distinctive hand-coloring & shading, a mix of metals, beautiful forms and impeccable finishing.

 

 Fiber artist Chris Roberts-Antieau. This was the first or possibly second time I've seen Chris's work in person -- she may have exhibited at a Reston/NoVA Fine Arts Festival some years ago. Anyway, her "Night Birds" above is one of our favorites from Chris's strange and wonderful show collection. As with many fiber artists' work, photos don't do justice to the texture created by embellishment stitching on her pieces.

 

 

Wood artist Janel Jacobson. Her tiny netsukes and other small wood carvings are so lovely. Spring Song, the piece pictured above, measures only 2.2 x 1.3 x 0.8 inches. Incredibly tiny details!

*     *     *     *     *

ACE was truly an inspiring and memorable show. We spoke with many of the artists, who were eager to share information about their inspiration and their methods.

What struck me over and over was the importance of layers in artistic work. The ability to think in and conceptualize the layers or stages of a creative process. The use of physical layers of raw material in the construction of the work itself, whether glass or fiber or whatever. The layers of meaning that the piece holds for the artist as maker, versus the public as viewer/ enthusiast/ buyer. The layers of  past, present and future connected by evolving craft traditions and techniques.

So much food for thought.