Footnotes to a Conversation, March 13, 2023

“It is so small a thing, to have enjoyed the sun, to have lived light in the spring, to have loved, to have thought, to have done.” – Matthew Arnold

 Building a Home

When the trees are bare, sometimes we’re fortunate enough to spot a bird nest. Some are so tiny, while others – such as the magpie’s – are very large. Susan Ogilvy, a botanical illustrator in Great Britain, has published a book with illustrations of the nests she has seen. Each bird species follows a different architecture when constructing their nests, “from the small and perfectly formed (wrens), to the slapdash (collared doves), to the outright baroque (house sparrows) … Painting the nests further deepened her respect for birds’ skill and ingenuity. ‘It’s a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle. You ask yourself, where does that piece of grass go? And then, looking closely, you follow its route through, trying to get it to come out in the right place at the other side. I enjoy that.” [The Guardian]

You can find a profile of Susan Ogilvy in the April 2023 issue of LandScape magazine. [LandScape]

Human Failings

I was horrified to learn that Pablo Neruda, whose poetry I very much admire, had admitted to raping a cleaning woman in a hotel room. A Chilean feminist responded to the news by saying Neruda was cancelled [NPR]. Similarly, Picasso’s attitude towards women and his collection of African artifacts leaves much to be desired. On the 50th anniversary of Picasso’s death, the Picasso museum in Paris has chosen to recognize the artist’s failings and use it as the focus of a new exhibit. “A spectacularly colourful and playful rehang of a series of Picasso masterworks, paintings, sketches and ceramics opens this week, featuring major pieces by contemporary painters, including key Black female artists, in order to open up the debate on feminism, colonialism and race, and bring in young audiences” [The Guardian].

Pleasure

An article about Beryl Cook’s art reflects on history, food, and pleasure. Beryl Cook painted happy, chubby people enjoying everyday food. The paintings can seem out of place in a world that values skinny people, Michelin-star meals, and (often) tortured souls. And yet, why not? It is so often the very simple things that bring the most lasting pleasure – a hot cup of tea first thing in the morning, a cheery dandelion, or a stranger’s smile. “Cook’s work is an enduring reminder that the familiar and the simple can bring just as much enjoyment as the exotic, the complex and the celebrated.” [Vittles]

Photos taken at The Lost Gardens of Heligan

Footnotes to a Conversation is a weekly Monday feature covering an assortment of topics that I’ve come across in the preceding week – books, art, travel, food, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I also post occasional articles on other dates, including frequent book reviews and travel tales.

If you share my love of nature, check out EcoFriendly West, an online publication encouraging environmental initiatives in Western Canada, and Nature Companion, a free nature app for Canada’s four western provinces.