Floating Red Oak Leaf Squares

Floating Red Oak Leaf Squares, originally uploaded by ...escher....

I expected to do some land art yesterday but once I got up I just couldn't muster the enthusiam. Something in me was saying that I 'should' go out do some but then I thought that was a good reason not to. If I am not filled with enthusiasm and want to go out and make something then I suspect the end result would be lack-lustre and the process frustrating. But still for some reason if I waste a day I feel guilty. But it did rain a lot yesterday so as always it's a paradox. If I had gone out I would have thought I should have stayed indoors and vice versa.

And so it was like that today and although the weather had improved my resolve and enthusiasm had not. There is nothing wrong with taking a break, I keep telling myself (sometimes I need to), and so I decided to not do any art this weekend.

Earlier on we went for a stroll then visited the car boot sale up the road but soon returned home to the warm. I had gathered some tall grasses yesterday and so I just sat in front of the TV just doodling with some thorns not really thinking I would make anything at all. But as one minute lead to the next a construction started to take shape and finally I ended up with a cube. The leathery red oak leaves I had found the week before (our house is full up with plastic bags full of leaves in varying states of decay) were beginning to lost their colour and I was unhappy I hadn't used them for anything yet. So I pinned a leaf to each face of the cube and thought that I liked what I saw.

In the backt of my mind I was thinking about the deep dark pool I had found on the moors recently and the fact I hadn't used it for anything yet. As the construction of the cube was similar to the shadow cube I made a few weeks ago I imagined suspending it above the dark water and seeing the shadow that this one made.

There hadn't been a speck of rain all day and we arrived at the moorland parking spot to it just deciding to start. It was light but I wasn't sure when it would cease.

We trudged up to the pool and I set about rigging something to place the cube on. It didn't look right at all so I poked with a stick to teach it lesson. The top face of the cube fell off and started to float around on the surface. That looked much better so I set about dismantling the cube and took each square and set them off on a sailing adventure across the pool.

The breeze was light and it was interesting how the subtle changes in strength were almost imperceptible whilst stood there, but you could see the little rafts all start to spin and move over the surface in unison.

This all looked good in real life but their movement wasn't helpful for a photograph and my video camera had decided it wanted a new battery. I warmed the battery up and it allowed a few seconds to be recorded.

By the way, these are bigger than they might appear as these oak leaves are quite large. Perhaps from a scarlet or pin oak, I cannot tell, as the leaves are a similar size.

It didn't rain for long and soon the raindrops stopped disturbing the surface of the pool. We had arrived at just the right time and we were treated to the start of the 'golden hour.' Although it is hard to be inspired by cold, dull grey days, Autumn and Winter also produces great light. With the low sun casting golden light across the gritstone and the died-back bracken, the senses are treated to a wonderland of glowing landscapes. Opportunities might be short lived but they are so worth seeking out at this time of year.