Back in April, I made mention of a collaboration that I worked on with Sarah Hearn for the threshold: the promised land exhibition, part of START Norman. Sarah is a visual artist who also showed work in Rare Earth at Plug Projects in Kansas City last year. A kindred nature-inspired artist, much of her work involves lichen -- a group of organisms that has strongly grasped my attention as of late. I've been in awe of Sarah's beautiful macrophotography of these intriguing life forms, intricate paper cutting, and thought provoking installation since I first saw it. Clearly, I was all about working on a piece together for our site specific installations in Norman.

I'm excited to share the photos of our collaboration with you now, which Sarah so kindly captured for us. This work is a colony of two lichen interpretations: Parmotrema perforatum (perforated ruffle lichen) and Peltigera canina (dog-lichen). My contribution included the moss growing among the dog-lichen, and apothecia and ruffles throughout the perforated ruffle lichen.

In addition to the collaboration, Sarah placed several mini-installations of lichen throughout the site, and designed a scavenger hunt for visitors to use in finding them all! They blended in quite well to their surroundings. She added my two Succession installations to the hunt as well. I loved this engaging concept, and hope it was a fun way for visitors to learn about and connect with nature.

After this project, I've found that I can't stop observing lichen whenever I see it. I'm captivated by it! This is a subject matter that you will likely see more of in the future.

Just look at these beauties! Succulents are by far some of the most striking plants to grow at home. When we were in the Pacific Northwest this past summer, I collected multiple little bits of succulents that we found while walking about, to bring home. It's amazing how easy it is to grow a new succulent plant from just a little piece that fell off of another one. There are so many varied textures and colors with these little guys - any time I go to a nursery that carries them I have to resist leaving with an armful! Luckily for me, my friend Jo Anne from the Anthaus studio asked me to be a part of one of their group's new design ventures... so she and I went wild at a local nursery the other day and now I'm excited to be the caretaker for these babies as we develop this new art project. I'm excited to tell you more about all of this eventually, but for now I've got to be just a little bit cryptic (sorry... but haven't I piqued your interest??) Check back soon for more...

Anthaus is an artist collective in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma that "was founded to challenge and inspire artists, designers, and craftsmen to work together using their skills on projects with a unified theme." They say, "we strive to not only create, but create with a sense of purpose. Our projects involve those with the same values and are passionate to learn."