2024
27" x 21" soil, acrylic binder, canvas
April 14, 2024
65°, no clouds in sight.
Wind: 13 mph, facing me head on.
Humidity: 45%
The sun is just beginning to set over the lake; I can hear waves lapping and dry grass crackling with the wind and my footsteps. The wind is constant, not in bursts. It is cool. Geese are honking in the background.
I have been to this area before, a couple weeks ago. It used to be flooded with lake water; this is the first year it has been accessible to me. I knew already where I wanted to dig, so I did not spend long wandering: only about 5 minutes.
I begin digging under the shadow of the birch tree. The wind is cold.
I uncovered a yellow insect with large mandibles and small, black eyes. Underdeveloped wings. It is not moving, but I believe it is alive. It looks to be some sort of ant, perhaps a termite. I debated keeping the insect in the sample but ultimately tossed it back to the Earth along with a small, worm-like larva.
Collected the sample at 6:59 PM.
Tiny thorns from an unknown source have dug into my finger.
April 20, 2024
Oven-dried the sample at 200° for about 2 hours. Many seeds had germinated since the sample sat.
UNREFINED SAMPLE WEIGHT: 345 grams.
May 24, 2024
23 minutes.
The sample is very fine at first and breaks apart easily in the mortar; however, mixed in with the silt is a high proportion of coarse sand that is much harder to break. There are also several thin strips of birch bark.
June 18, 2024
46 minutes.
An empty acorn shell. A gnarled strip of birch bark that is difficult to grind. The pestle is not breaking it apart, so I used my fingers and scissors to tear it to smaller pieces.
June 23, 2024
49 minutes.
Not much progress made. Birch bark is still proving difficult to grind down.
June 24, 2024
12 minutes.
June 26, 2024
43 minutes.
The bark is finally ground down.
July 1, 2024
16 minutes.
Complete.
TOTAL GRINDING TIME: 3.15 hours.
REFINED SAMPLE WEIGHT: 340 grams.
July 7, 2024
Added 17 grams of acrylic binder to sample (1/20 by weight). Added too much water; had to wait about 7.5 hours for the mixture to thicken. However, it is still thinner than I typically prefer. Spread evenly on canvas.
July 9, 2024
Painting is dry. However, the thinness of the mud when applied to the canvas caused separation of heavier and lighter particles, creating a blotchy appearance. Redid painting by adding water to canvas and scraping mud off with hands and palette knife. Re-applied smoothly.
July 10, 2024
Dry and complete.
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