I posted these two pictures on the new Facebook group for Unfolding the Heart, one of our readers wanted to know more about the process of this piece:

Thank you Dara for your comment and question!

My Emotional Motivation

I laugh when I say this, but my motivation for this was from cabin fever! I have been meaning to do outside work and kept putting it off because of the cold weather. I tend to put off creative projects when I feel out of balance within myself. When I can’t stand being in my head and in the house any longer I throw myself into nature and become calm once again to take on a new day. Creating art in nature reminds me to love myself, take care of my thoughts and reconnect with my surroundings.

Creation of the Image

I have been wanting to make a larger snow heart and because the snow was starting to melt it was now or never. To make a new one bigger and faster than the last I decided to roll a snowball. I Immediately knew it would be a heart, so after the main snowball was made I began to grab snow around it to build the rest of the heart. The snow was great for packing and was easy to smooth over large bumps as I went. I finished the snow sculpture by smoothing out around the base. Later I realized I had created another heart impression on the ground which was a fun surprise to me.

Photography Decisions

When the piece was done, I looked around at what else in the surroundings could make it an interesting picture. For this particular piece I noticed that the snow blended into each other and strong shadows where necessary for the heart to be seen in a picture. I made the sculpture late in the evening so my first picture was lit by a flood light on the side of the house. Again in the morning I noticed strong shadows from the rising sun, this gave depth to the picture and a slight sense of dynamism.