The Offerings to the Wind is an ongoing public art installation that was inspired by a single incident.
Last years
severe winter wind storm had a a stunning effect on my rural community.  Fallen
trees were the most prevalent result of the winds;  blocking road ways, taking down power
lines and damaging homes, etc.  In and around the Snoqualmie Valley there are still remnants
 of the incident.  Where the trees had fallen  they have been cut back and removed leaving a
freshly cut “tableau” of clean surface emerging from the woods. I have selected particular
areas where these tree stumps have been revealed and begun to create a series of art
 installations that offer a subtle reminder of the historical storm and the response to it.

This is a little poem that I wrote when I was starting to develop an approach to the project. There are a lot of trees around my home and my studio and I am often listening to wind in the trees…After the wind storm the wind in the trees became even more communicative.  I added this poem to my grant  applications and I think it may have helped me get the grants. I think it demonstrated that I was looking deeper into the ramifications of nature and people and how the wildness of nature is more "present" in the rural area where I live.

"…the trees spoke to me again, their voice driven by the wind
I did not know their language, so I responded with symbols
And hoped they undertood, my voice driven by the wind…"

This is the first piece that I did to determine how I would proceed and test the materials I would use. It was done as a gift for my studio land lord, Caroline.

Caroline's neighbor ended up cutting up the fallen tree for fire wood and she reclaimed it and now has it as an ornament in her yard.