Description
When the Larkspur Reed Trio commissioned me to write this work, I was trying to produce an idea when they sent me a photo from a trip to Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park. Was it the majestic forests or lakes from the park? No, it was a picture of a stubborn porcupine creating a small traffic jam on the roadways. This photo came with a request to write about that porcupine.
The North American porcupine is a fascinating creature. Most people think only of the sharp quills that protect them, but when one looks closer at those quills, they will find some of nature’s greatest artwork. The quills will glow blue under a black light, and under a microscope, they appear to be an elaborate, almost fractal, piece of artwork.
It is this Baroque nature that I wanted to focus on in Quills. The sun rising over Voyageurs National Park, and then that same sun radiating on this majestic animal, so often overlooked.
