Big Leaf Maple Art

Big Leaf Maple Art

“Appreciate and don't take for granted the things and people you have. Better yet take the good out of the situations you may face, I think 2020 came to teach us that.” -Hopal Green

These Big Leaf Maple trees in our area will grow nowhere else, though people have tried. And they make the largest maple leaf of any other maple. 

These trees are everywhere around us as we meander through the rainforest. They light up the understory in dappled sun, drenching us in golden light.

Their leaves pile up into crumpled papery paths through the woods. They read like naturally self recycling newspapers, littering our way, with the stories of the last few seasons printed on them. Pick one up, it has a message for those who can read tree language. 

There is the news of wind, rain, and sun, gossip about the affairs of birds and squirrels, and from this fall, the tale of the great smoke. We kick through them as we walk.

The rain turns them into soggy cornflakes that squish under your feet.

Here in the great northwest USA, we have boring fall colors. There is green, for evergreen trees, and yellow, for the big leaf maple. That’s about it.

So, in this pandemical moment of embracing what is around, whatever it may be, I take a deep dive into the fall colors anyway. I gather some fallen maple leaves, and play with the color palette. 

I mix them with light on my ipad. 

I begin to pull out bits of dyed fleece and sparkles.

I spin the the colors into yarn, and knit them together.

The main body of the blanket is undyed natural tan brown merino wool, from a small farm near here, where every sheep has a name, and each one is special and loved, and has beautiful fleece. I spin the yarn by hand, from super soft, four inch stapes that I’ve washed carefully and gently, and dried in the sun and breeze.

The finished blanket will remind me of the colors of the season when we all had to learn to appreciate whatever we have around us now, wherever we may be.

“There are so many things which we have but have not paid any attention to them. If only we can learn to appreciate our blessings, we can enjoy great happiness.” -Awdhesh Singh