I've been ever hopeful for an early song bird or tip of a crocus to announce spring's near arrival, but here it is the fifth day of March and the gloom of February continues to seep.
Tiring of the sun playing a solid game of peek-a-boo, I began searching computer files of downloaded pictures for something to bring a smile. Zipping through the alphabet, a folder caught my attention. Titled Cozied Covered_Art, I immediately remembered the contents and before the first click, was already smiling.
About two years ago, we were biking on a Denver trail and there it was, a tree wearing a colorful, crocheted trunk wrap. The dressing was something unexpected and exciting, and we pedaled on with a new energy. I didn't realize what we'd come upon is an artistic movement called yarn bombing.
Yarn bombing is about bringing tactile beauty to a unique scape. With the canvas for yarn bombing undefined, the artist is only limited by imagination. What's inherent in this discipline is the work is joyful and all who encounter it smile.
From around the world is yarn bombing:
At the forefront of this decorative movement is Carol Hummel, an artist living in Ohio. Her mission of uniting people through the act of art making is a global work in progress. A visit to her website is a travelogue of explosiveness, but in a good way. Carol says it best:
As an artist, I think yarn bombing is a way to bring art to the people. Whether yarn bombing is done in stealth or with permission, I think it's an extremely positive, creative, uplifting, happy experience for the people creating it as well as the people seeing it and living with it.
Much closer to home, was this recent yarn bomb at the Denver Art Museum
Big cities allow for such installations. I was so jealous of my Denver friends, until...
...on Main Street, in Pueblo! There was no one around, no one to share the excitement of the object of decoration and its unexpected placement, no one to exclaim over and over the disbelief and thrill and joy.
But as with art, the image that impacts the most stays with us. And that nasty winter of chill-to-the-bone and soul, well, the artistry of spring will be here soon enough.