Great, I went walking today and I saw some conkers, a bit later than last year, but the weather has been different. I decided to do an art installation as I have just being reading about the Turner Prize in The Times.
It's the fifth pic, but it needs a bit of explanation.
I love conkers for their superb shiny shapes, like polished maghogany. It is the sort of texture that you would expect to see in one of the sideboards at the Savoy after being polished by beeswax many times by the maids, but these are left lying about on the grass, their shine polished and burnished by the sun. They are also very round, and this is also pleasing. They end up growing into one of the huge Horse Chestnut trees pictured, which is amazing. This is like the acorn into the oak, but I think the conker is more aesthetically pleasing, better than an acorn. You can also play a kid's game with them by putting a string through them and hitting the other person's conker until the hardest one wins, and we used to have whole bags full of them sitting under the stairs.
Third pic, you always get these little sycamores attached to the big trees, like a barnacles round a whale. We had a sycamore in our garden and it was very vigorous and ended up quite a large tree, though it was coming through a crack in the paving. It is like the botantical version of the grey squirrel.
First pic ('Conkers Art Installation') I didn't need any help to do this. Unlike Damion Hirst, I did not need a lot of helpers to construct my artwork, as I found it where it fell, composed by the sun and wind. This conker is not unlike a large brown seed pearl, resting on a bed of green. Next to it is its very own clasp, from which it has escaped, like a pearl from a necklace during an autumn dance of the leaves. With all this energy around it's no wonder they can light it all and make a bonfire. Like diamonds they have a huge compressed energy, which, when caught by the sun makes the shaft of light, or, if they fall in the right place, makes the tree. They are like the diamond, hard but beautiful.
6 comments:
I love this post! Fun to read and educational too. Here in East Texas we get the scarlet buckeye as a small shrub with big old "buckeyes" on it. When I see these blooming in the spring I know the hummingbirds are on their way to my house :)
You like humming birds, don't you, Bobbie! Again, never heard of the buckeye and also can't imagine humming birds coming to my house. They seem like a very exotic bird. Lovely to exchange the different nature experiences we have living, as we do, in places so very far away from each other!
I learned something new today! Wow, your pictures are so beautiful. I can just picture them polished up, with a wood cleaner and gleaming. So many beautiful treasures in nature, just waiting to be discovered. If only people, took the time to look, relax, walk and look. Sounds like a plan.
we call 'em buckeyes. i think they're beautiful.
when did you change the name of your blog?
Laurie, I changed it a few days ago to fit in with my header picture. I've been trying a few pseudonyms like Heavenly Body, Celeste Spheres, or just plain Celeste, but I think I'll just stick with plain Bev.
Hi Beverly,
This is a great post!! I had never heard of conkers. You are a wonderful story teller and photo illustrator!
I learned something too. You are so creative!
~ Diane Clancy
www.dianeclancy.com/blog
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