Recipe for a Raven Scarf

November 15, 2023November 14, 2023 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 2 Comments

LIST OF INGREDIENTS

A scattering of ravens (photographed in the local mountains)
Cedar boughs to taste
A base layer of snow-covered forest
One inner border of cedar colours, anchored with raven sky corners
One riotous outer border of ravens in mid-flight

METHOD

Spend many happy days, over several years, in the mountains looking for and photographing ravens in their home territory
Select, from your favourite raven portraits, the most scarf-suited
Create an eye-catching, energy-packed border
Combine ingredients
Neurotically fiddle with the design for days on end before finally sending it off to Montreal to be made into actual scarves.

MORE ABOUT THE MAIN INGREDIENTS

Raven On Cedar

Two corners of the new scarf feature my Raven on Cedar portrait …

This image is from a snowshoeing trip in early 2022, when we were lucky to spend a couple of hours with a raven pair. I took many photographs that day, but the one of the raven perched on the top of cedar tree became the anchor for the whole scarf design.

Another one of my prints from a photograph taken that day, including both of the ravens …

Raven Connection

And here is our very same raven on that day, calling out from his cedar perch …

Scarf modelled by my daughter, Lily.

Raven Romance

The other two corners of the scarf are populated by the Raven Romance pair.

These two were photographed in the same area as the first couple, but almost exactly a year later. It’s very possible they are the same ravens.

It was another rare and wonderful day as we watched these two chatting away like any established couple and lovingly adjusting each others feathers.

Geordie makes his modelling debut, sporting the 16-inch kerchief version of the scarf.

These are all of the intangible ingredients that went into the scarf. I listed them here just so scarf wearers can know a little more about “their” ravens and, perhaps, feel some of the absolute joy I felt in photographing the ravens and in putting together the scarf design.

If you’d like to know more of the technical details like fabrics and sizes, please head over to the listing in my shop. The scarves, made in Montreal, are currently available to pre-order.

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Collecting Hidden Beauty

November 2, 2017November 1, 2017 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 17 Comments

Sometimes, on my walks, I like to play a little game.

I call it Alleyway to Art Gallery.

Something catches my eye — a piece of rust, moss on a worn fence, a shattered windshield, even some crumpled paper floating in the gutter.

At that moment, in that light, it is astonishing.

That’s how the game begins.

Part two is imagining that the little piece of beauty has been magically transported from the gutter to a pristine white gallery.

The lighting and ambience are perfect. The exhibited piece is HUGE. Twenty feet high.

Perhaps sparkling wine is being served …

The colours, the textures! It’s stunning.

In some ways, the game can be a little depressing since the imaginary exhibit is far more gorgeous and spontaneous than anything I’m likely to create.

But, therein lies the fun of it. It’s an inspiration. Something to aspire to.

Plus, before you know it, I’ve been on a little fantasy VAG, MoMA, or Tate Modern trip during the course of a dog walk.

It’s my little secret. Until it wears away, blows away, or the light changes, it’s part of my own private collection.

The pictures in this blog are of a treasure I found in a local alleyway around this time last year.

As you can see in the photo above, the alleyway in question did not seem, at first glance, to hold a lot of promise. I can’t remember how exactly I came to notice it. Perhaps Geordie wanted to pee on it.

It was a large painting, done on some sort of wood veneer with thick, swirling sweeps of paint. Hard to say if was acrylic or oil paint, or what the original subject was.

I’m not sure how long it had been languishing in they alley when I found it, but much of the paint had worn off and the wooden base had started to de-laminate. Moss was beginning to colonize parts of the wood, and windy weather had caused brilliant fall leaves to pile up in front of it.

One or two other leaves had become plastered to the old painting and random, yet somehow perfect, intervals.

It was one of those overcast, damp days where the sky is a dull grey, but all terrestrial colours seem extra bright to compensate. Flecks of blue left in the painting, and the touches of red in the autumn leaves, seemed to add little jolts of electricity to the overall composition.

I visited my little secret art show several times over the next few weeks, until it disappeared under the winter snow.

I considered all the the elements that went into the accidental “installation”.

The painter and their original inspiration.

The decisions and/or circumstances that led to the painting being abandoned in the alley.

The wind, the leaves, the moss, the light.

My decision to walk that way that day.

Geordie’s sudden need to pee.

Somehow this little game brings me much joy.

More and more I’m trying to find ways to steer my mind onto calmer pathways and thinking about beauty and serendipity makes a welcome change from too much news or the never-ending “to-do” list.

I recommend it.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like, The Gift.

www.junehunter.com

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Owl Wrestling

September 22, 2017September 21, 2017 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 5 Comments

Let me be clear. Actual owl wrestling is definitely not something I’d recommend.

However, it does feel as if I’ve been metaphorically getting to grips with owls for the last few weeks.

One particular owl, in fact.

Since the wonderful day a few weeks ago when a barred owl appeared in front of my house, I’ve been working on distilling the magic of that day into a small set of images.

It was such a special day, I really wanted to make sure that I did that beautiful owl justice. To that end, I’ve been faffing about with this series for weeks.

First of all there was the issue of making a short list of the photographs to start working from. That gorgeous owl posed so obligingly for me, for so many hours — it made choosing the final four images quite challenging.

Then I had to decide which other images to layer the owl portraits with. Below are most of the final images that, in the end, became merged with the owl — but in the process of working on this series I tried dozens of other combinations of tree, foliage, stamp, fabric and texture images. They all ended up on the virtual cutting room floor, leaving the set of images that are now on my web site.

Lupins, cracked concrete, katsura leaves, sky, forest, an old barkcloth curtain and owls — all combined to create the atmosphere in the final set of four owl images.