I added a new item to the store today – my first branch weaving (which is also fidget art):

When I started this weaving, I had no idea what it would look like when it was finished. It was very much an intuitive piece and I’m really happy with how it turned out.

It reminds me of an owl with big button eyes and uneven ears.

There’s a great horned owl that lives in my neighborhood and hoots somewhat regularly at night from the top of a dying Aleppo Pine a few houses over. The tree is dying because of hotter climate and pine bark beetles invading its stressed out body.

When I first moved into my current house, there were two Aleppo Pines in my yard. One of them died just months after I moved in – or so it seemed. (It was likely dying long before that). The other one I had cut down a few years later because it was leaning dangerously close to the house. I still grieve for both of those trees. They provided a lot of shade and hangout spots for birds.

I have a few works in progress right now – including a couple more branch weavings that are very different from this one.