Nature Experiments and a little bit of photography.

Unopened Fennel flower.

I am in such a FANTASTIC space right now that I hope these pixels turn into little bubbles of enthusiasim and POP all over you!

Spider's nest in the the weeds.

I resolved to participate more on the NING art groups that I belong to and this month's challenge could have been written just for me- to create mixed media paintings from natural and organic substances. Flower dyes, tree bark pigments, vegetable dyes...you get the idea.Everything about this is perfect...except for the painting bit, which as I have mentioned previously is not really 'good' with me right now but I've decided to feel the fear and do it anyway!  I have to get over this painting slump and what more exciting and inspiring way could I find that with the real colours of nature?

I was thinking about the next part I want to do for Lisa J's Pulp Redux book this morning when thoughts of the Ning swap entered my mind and suddenly I had a huge brain wave. Here's a sneak peak of where I am heading....

This nest was gifted to me by Mother Nature just in time for Christmas. It was the most wonderful nest and there's a bit of story to go with it which I will share later. Sadly, when I said 'was' the most wonderful nest I mean this nest has since 'passed on' and is no longer intact. It was dismantled by a cat and left in tatters on the front step. Stink one!

I kept it's pieces because I didn't have the heart to just throw it in the compost and now I am so glad I didn't! Here's what I did...

I took it apart and soaked it in hot water, sieved it and let it settle. It's now a nest coloured dye!Wahoo!

I didn't even see that brain wave coming!

I've been playing around with the dye and I will be sharing a bit more about that on another post too.

All that remains of the nest's remains....washed, chopped and dried nest pieces ready for inclusion in some paper making. I can't wait!

 I was actually sad to pull this nest apart even though it was well thrashed by the cat (not my cat I hope!!) who could no doubt smell the remains of the eggs I found inside. It was still a thing of beauty but it was disentegrating quickly outside and I am quite pleased it has this new life. It was quite an intimate thing pulling apart a nest with my hands, letting the nest dye run over my fingers and feeling the soft textures of it as I readied the bits for paper making. No wonder I am inspired!

We are camping for a few days tomorrow, I have some little bags ready for the nature gifts I hope to find while were there. I will *see* you all when I get back!