The Last of Broken Bow

Since I had some photos left over from our trip to southeastern Oklahoma that did not fit under flora or fungi, here's one last post of natural wonders (save for the below image of a Riot trial run) from that weekend.  Random natural wonders.  This makes me long for a camping trip, big time.

Fungi of Southeastern Oklahoma

  Here are some more observations from our trip to Broken Bow, OK last month.  I also posted about the plant life a couple of weeks ago.  It feels like I haven't looked at fungi in forever, mostly because I've been working on another project which you'll find out more on soon.  I'm pretty excited about multiple things that are happening in life right now, and hopefully I can be a little less cryptic and let you in on these things in the very near future.  Until then... fungi!

Broken Bow Flora

 As I mentioned last week, J and I spent a few days down in southeastern Oklahoma last weekend (where I also did my latest installation for the Decomposition series, "Riot").  It's a beautiful time of year to visit that area -- everything was in bloom: the dogwoods, red buds, wildflowers.  Trees were just starting to leaf out.  A hint of fungus was starting to appear here and there (that's another photo post entirely).  We absolutely loved the scenery, and it was so refreshing to get away from a few days.  You don't realize how much you miss the "sound" of silence until you hear it.  There are few things I love more than the absence of urban noises - cars, voices, industrial sounds... and in its place just the low hum of the wind and a nearby stream.  So peaceful, so revitalizing.  We will definitely be back.

I took so many photos that I will have to break it up into a few posts.  The flora comes first!

Decomposition: Riot

I had the opportunity this past weekend to install my jack o lantern fungi in southeastern Oklahoma as part of the Decomposition series.  These are the largest forms I've used for an installation to date, and have a very different effect than the dozens of tiny mushroom caps seen in Colony I and Colony II.  Rather than sheer numbers, the "WOW" factor comes from the loud, warm hue, clustered around this unique stump with a cylinder of heartwood still standing majestically in the center.  A loud, warm, aggressive hue, a tightly packed cluster.... like a riot.

I enjoy this series more and more as I go along, and get more and more excited projecting future installations.  I'm also thinking I need to plan out some ideas on how to create an installation and leave it in place without offending my environmentally responsible conscience.  The materials I use are just too invasive to feel good about leaving out in "the wild".  I'll start brainstorming more on that, and actually I already have an idea brewing although it's for something outside the Decomposition series.  Hopefully I'll have time to start on that this summer...

New Decomposition Installation + Weekend Away

This weekend my husband and I rented a cabin down in Broken Bow, Oklahoma (the southeastern part of the state) just to get away for a few days and enjoy being out in nature.  We planned the trip over a month ago, and since that time I've been busy working on these pieces for my fifth installation for the Decomposition series.  You might recognize them from the 52 Forms of Fungi project, since I made a couple to use as form number 5.  Check back later this week to see the installation--- I'm really happy with how it turned out and can't wait to share it with you!  In the meantime, here are a few more photos from the weekend.  You'd better believe I'll have posts out the wazoo (do people still say that?) depicting all of the awesome fungi and things that we spotted while hiking.

... and Emma got to come too.