Evelyn R. Swett Photography
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A Stage Set for Compost

11/21/2019

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Picture
Weekly Compost Bucket
During my
show, people asked
if my studio smelled and they
wondered how I
'staged' my
work.
Picture
Handmade Three-Bin Composter (Bin & Photograph by ERSwett)
Since my
'stage' is a large
three bin composting
system behind our garage,
and my studio is on the opposite
end of the house, in the basement, with
only a computer and other art supplies, it turns
out that neither one actually smells
at all (or at least, not
of rotting food).
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Last weekend's hydrangea's
Picture
This morning's household bucket.
And I don't
really 'set up' my
Compost Compositions
either. I dump food and other
scraps into that plastic white bucket
that I purchased from K-mart a decade ago.
When it gets full, which is at least once a week,
I carry the 10 pounds of waste out to our
'active' compost bin. There, I dump
a bucket's worth of stuff onto
whatever was there
before.
Picture
A 'Compost Compositions' in process.
Then 
I stir it so that
it all gets mixed and
mingled. As you can see, the
bins are square, but the camera
creates a rectangular
​image.
Picture
Compost Composition #6,573 or some such number... by ERSwett
I then crop
my image to create
'Compost Compositions' that
feel as close to the
'real deal' as I
can get. 

Picture
5 Gallon Buckets full of Compost.
There are 
additional players
in this drama, however. I
source most of my raw material
from Umpleby's Cafe & Bakery in Hanover,
NH, where each week I collect five
gallon buckets full of coffee
and other food
​scraps.
Picture
Handmade Three-Bin Composter and photo by ERSwett
The stage
is set for new dramas
to unfold. Every time it's a mystery,
as the contents and light shift
​with each season.
Picture
This morning's compost from Umpleby's Cafe & Bakery
This
morning, the 
buckets contained
a wonderful mix of coffee,
fresh lemons, celery
and some old
lettuce.

Picture
Coffee steaming...
I love
how the fresh
and still warm coffee grinds,
generate steam. I also love how I don't
actually know what was in each bucket until
I stir the heaped mass of coffee
and vegetable scraps...
Picture
Mixed salad, sandwiches and omelettes perhaps?
...and 
uncover a
compellingly speckled
moldy tomato.

Picture
It's all very democratic - - everything gets mixed and mingled together. There is no hierarchy in a compost bin.
I doubt any
of these will become
official 'Compost Compositions'
as the lighting wasn't quite right today.
Stay tuned for more about
that in a later
​post.
Picture
Love contrasts between lights and darks
As you
can see, this 
'behind the scenes'
view of my compost process
is not really behind anything other
than our garage. It's all out there. In the winter,
red squirrels come to feast; In the summer bees and
other bugs hover. For years I've referred to
my work as the 'real deal.' It may be
contained & framed but, like
me, what you see is
what you get..
​
​(most of the time).
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Leaves & The List

11/14/2019

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It seems absurd,
really, that a gal has to
take care of things at home
even when there are so many cool
things happening, at, say,
her first solo show.

Picture
But autumn
does come to an end,
and snow does appear and the
temperatures do start to fall,
so one does have to
take care of
​things.
Picture
It's funny, though,
how the list evolves over
time. Just as one thing is finally
crossed off, another activity or two or
three gets added on, like mulch
on the garden and those 
perennials that keep
coming back...

Picture
I love,
though, how I
save my favorite activity
for last - - shredding leaves to
use in the compost in the spring when
things are wet and need a boost
of dry carbon. It's a
thing for me.
Picture
Calvin
joins in the
fun, begging me
to throw him sticks while
I methodically mow the leaves
in the still, dry garage. Spread them out,
consolidate, spread again. Back and forth I help
break them down so they can more
efficiently integrate with all that
nitrogen in the melting,
early spring
compost.

Picture
It hit me,
though, as the 
pile got smaller, that
this is another one of those
routines I do all the time that is,
on the one hand, just another item on
the endless list, but on the other hand, is an
integral part of a bigger climate action narrative, a
story in which I find joy in routines that feel
good unto themselves but are also
part of a larger creative
​vision.
Picture
Like 
how I can
share photographs
of a previous year's leaves
on the wall of a gallery and by doing
so inspire others to think differently about
leaves, carbon and our
​material world. 
Picture
Mixed Carbon, 2019 30" x 30" Photograph on Paper (5th on the left) Photo by ERSwett

For me,
climate action and
creativity converge to inspire
joy and new ways of being - - all the time.
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    Picture
    Evelyn R. Swett
    reframing the narrative in community and with myself, finding transformation and joy in the mess of it all
    Picture
    compost re-imagined
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evelynrswett@gmail.com
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**Let's ReFrame is a weekly viewsletter about this and that.
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