Points of return

I often go back to visit these particular thistles that grows here. I did a drawing of this broken piece. The spikes on the tops (the tops are the size of an orange) as well as on the stem are very menacing...alive barbed wire. I ponder defenses, protection and armor and the need of this plant to fend off something.

I went on a walk this morning with Pat Loucks a textile artist here at the residency. We hiked up near the remains of an old mill next to a bridge. I have been finding this old bridge astonishingly beautiful with its worn stone and wanted to see it again. There are all kinds of lichen that grow on the stone and there might be some iron too that gives it this orange color. I like going to visit the bridge in the morning before it gets too hot. The pillars look like ready made large scale abstract paintings.