number two . Preparing the new larger canvas for the ceremony.

"After the elements were imbued i sat wrapped in the canvas over several days, using it as a cloak, a napkin, a towel, a blanket, a picnic rug, taking it every where i went, dog walks, swimming, gardening, it was dragged in the mud, dipped in puddles and curled up in for naps like a child carries its favorite blanket everywhere it goes. It felt very important that the work was involved in the forest, that it was embedded with my day to day life in the nature, that it shared my experiences and became not just a visitor in nature, but nature itself, my mistress"
The larger scale of this piece feels appropriate, it is more dominant, more invasive, vast, it has a distinct personality. It felt vital that the same ritualistic process was used on the new canvas that the last one did, baptizing the canvas into the four elements with the same care and attention as before. I did the elements in a different order this time so that the fire could really effect the canvas, this time holes were created in the canvas by the flames and embers. It did lack the incredible moist smoky smell from before so i repeated the fire element after the water, draping the wet canvas over a fire so it could smolder and absorb the scent of wood smoke. (see video below) It also had the added privilege of being left in a huge thunder storm and hung in the air to dry in the woods for three nights.The canvas is now ready for the final stage, where the pigment and dyes are added not with a brush or being flicked and sloshed, but by the ceremonial act of making love in nature, abandonment.