I started mindfully watching the pinecones fall from mature white and red pine trees onto the paths of the Northern forests of Minnesota. I love walking and hearing the pinecones crunch under my step. Looking down, I could see all the pinecones opening up and the seeds falling out under the warmth of the sun. Sometimes I would eat one of the nuts or seeds or taste the sap of the tree or make pinecone bird feeders with my grandchildren. I have always been a gardener creating many spaces for mostly perennials to grow and flourish. I love many varieties of house plants thriving in the light of my windowsills.

This new attention to seeds was different for me.

As an artist, this installation on seeds exists because of my fascination and reverence for Nature and the realization that seeds and plant-life are all we have to sustain life on Earth.

And so began my intense watchfulness …

I smile at plants growing out of rocks. In early Minnesota spring, I watch the Trillium flowers surviving a 20° below zero winter pushing up out of the forest floor. I see new saplings growing from trees fallen by the powerful straight-line winds. In New Mexico, winds push tumbleweeds relentlessly back and forth as they look for a resting place to spread their seeds. Walking in the mornings, our dog breaks a branch off the cane cholla and inadvertently carries it to a new location where it roots and grows. I taste the sweet white bloom on the prickly yucca and the watercress growing around spring waters. And ever vigilant of coyote, I observe their scat and see the pine nut seeds they eat.

People spread seeds as well. Joan Didion says of her ancestors, “When they could not think what else to do they moved another thousand miles, set out another garden: beans and squash and sweet peas from seeds carried from the last place. The past could be jettisoned, children buried and parents left behind, but seeds got carried.” (Joan Didion, Where I Was From, 2003)

Part of Nature’s essence with form, motion, light and emotion is to transform and evolve in a changing environment. Plants are resilient and fascinating … people are resilient and fascinating. Living and dying and living again, plants hold a paradox of life and death in their seeds.

Then, my attention deepened and I researched the scientific origins of seeds. Studying seeds’ biochemistry and how cells function has been enlightening. The humble spore performs magic transforming millions of years ago to grow a protective shell containing the precious water and nutrients for the plant to survive and grow. Plant a seed and it will grow! Each seed’s story, whatever the ecosystem, begins with water, fire, or another natural force to crack or open a sprout … to the growth and unfolding of a plant, to the dying of the plant producing more seeds for its legacy and sustainability ... All of humanity, animals, insects and land are here because of the tiny seed. Amazing!

This investigation encouraged me to write a mythical origin story about the seed, “The Seed Woman”. In the early cultures, myths would explain the natural forces and origins of the Earth and its people. “We tell ourselves stories in order to live.” (Joan Didion, The White Album, 1979) The Seed Woman embodies the story of how seeds began to live outside the ancient ocean waters. The Seed Woman performs transforming powers to find her vision of life outside the water.