I installed this commission with great joy yesterday afternoon.  When I visited my client's home the first time to discuss preferences and understand the need for the privacy screen, she asked if I would like a cup of tea. In her kitchen, on the counter, was a 'The Botanist' bottle which she uses as a water bottle. The bottle lists all of the latin names of the flowers that are used to make this gin. It turns out she is a botanist and we share an appreciation of fine gin. I already had the two sides of that bottle kiln-flattened in my stock so we agreed to integrate them into the panel. I added two crystal wine glass bases and one kiln-flattened bowl. The textures selected suggest botanical themes of flowers, tree bark, rain, seeds, running water and the wind. This piece is named 'dom Botanicorum' which is Latin for 'For The Botanist'.

More insight into my creative process. I have made a few panels in the past with Northern Lights and with bears but I really wanted to combine them, and to bring in an inukshuk. Plan A was to make one panel but it did not feel right - the bear felt just too close to the inukshuk to me and the inukshuk almost looked like it was running. Plan B became two separate panels that can hang as a pair, with some space in between or separately. It also incorporated a more solid base for the inukshuk, emerging from the ice. The snowy weather in Ottawa last week meant no sunshine to bring out the full intensity of the colour in the flashes of light, but there will sunshine one day soon (after I return from Halifax). The camera does not show the same level of detail of the inukshuk that I can see, even from a distance, with the naked eye. The stones for the Inukshuk were gathered from the shores of Nova Scotia. These two pieces will be on display at the Navan Fine Arts show April 27 and 28.