3.24.19 Thickets

In the 50 degree range, the early sign of spring in our yard, the oddly, but propitiously placed, by a previous owner, pussy willow is on the verge of busting out. I cut it for my mother-in-law, whose birthday is tomorrow... an annual tradition. At the same time, I am creating a new public sculpture. My thoughts run as follows: "This is a thicket, a willow thicket, a red twig dogwood thicket, ubiquitous to our creeks and our river... broken, nibbled branches softened by clematis vine and the nests, pods and egg sacks that tie together/bind branches of the thicket and create places for germination within the thicket.... places for incubation, symbolic of our communities, made up of individuals, families, cultures, coming together, binding together, to create our larger collective community."