art

Vestiges: Fauna

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I have photographed this freshwater mussel shell every way I could think of to bring out the pure beauty of the subtle pearly colour shifts and the worn layers, but until you pull it out of the shallow icy water at the shore and hold it in your hand under a luminously overcast sky you won’t be able to see just how exquisite it really is.





A good-sized bird skull, I don’t know what kind it is. Perhaps the size of a seagull. Found along one of the breakwaters, over wintered and broken beaked.





All images © Karen McRae

Shifts

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I will be moving to land soon. I’m starting on a new project that is very land based.
But like anything that is land based it flows back to the rivers, lakes and oceans in some way. Connections.

I was thinking about this as I was walking along the shoreline early this morning, garbage bag in one hand and a delicate bird skull in the other. It is rare that I don’t pick something up, even if it’s just to examine it. After 3 hrs I had a full  bag of garbage and remembered I hadn’t had breakfast yet. Priorities.

It is the first day of spring but it is like we have skipped spring and moved directly into summer. We are entering our 3rd day of +25° c and the next 2 days are to be the same. It feels very strange, in the same way that it was odd when the robins stayed all this past winter. Like they knew what was ahead. Nature adapts so quickly and responds so intuitively.  Instinct.

I’m still on river time, but things are flowing gently and the fog is burning off.






All images © Karen McRae

In A Fog

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In my mind I am here, on the breakwater. The lonesome sound of seagulls overhead, thick fog and the early promise of a warm day. Shades of grey enveloping me like an old friend. A thermos of coffee beside me and ancient boulders beneath. Connected.

All images © Karen McRae

Winter is Coming Unstitched

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Winter is coming unstitched,
Frayed threads of cold loosening a tentative hold.
The fabric of winter sifts into the earth, flows into the cavities,
The pulse of the city quickens beneath your feet.
A sound of sweet release that catches in your throat, and floods your heart.
Time skips a quick beat, moving forward, a gentle breath on the cheek.
Winter is coming unstitched.





All images © Karen McRae