Guest in my studio is Susan Prater, a retired nurse, former belly dancer, and subject of a B&W Reconstructed Portrait weave piece currently exhibiting in the Thelma-Sadoff Center for the Arts in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Here Susan demonstrates her dancing skills.

This eagle feather appears on the cover of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) latest publication, Indigenous Notions of Ownership and Libraries, Archives and Museums. My thanks to editors Camille Callison, Loriene Roy, and Gretchen Alice LeCheminant for selecting my photograph.

There are those who by profession, hobby, or faith, wear material to cover or protect their heads. Through casual observance we are unable to see the person under the guise. The Reconstructed Portraiture series is an exercise in providing a glimpse of who lies beneath by combining two vernacular portraits with and without the head covering. The act of hand cutting and weaving the two black and white photographic prints form a pixelated double exposure that will inevitably alter the face.

Here are the images I selected when tagged to post one nature photo a day for a week on social media:

Day One – Daybreak on the Bong Trail near Jay Cooke State Park, MN

Day Two – Anasazi Loop Trail, New Mexico

Day Three – Alligator surfaces in Lake Texana, Texas

Day Four – Storm breaks up at sunset over Lake Michigan, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Day Five – Deer romping at Lake Texana State Park, Texas

Day Six – Ellwood H. May Environmental Park, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Day Seven – Cropped & edited version of an eagle in flight, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

It is heartening to see eagles returning to this part of Wisconsin.

A special thanks to my friend, Ryan, who texted me with an eagle alert.

Saluting those who dive head first into the New Year.