Greetings From PK Lane

On my first hike along PK Lane, an old Sheridan County road to the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains, I quickly noticed the weathered birdhouses placed on some of the rustic fence posts. With my interest in everyday transitions, the weathered wood of the birdhouses is what first drew my curiosity to sketch them along the roadside.

In the 1890s, PK Lane was a route to the Bighorn Mountains then known as Soldier Creek Trail Road. The road still has its dirt two-track features that was first used for horse drawn supply wagons. This was a convenient way to get to the locations of the mines and other resources on the mountain. While hiking in this open space, it is interesting to think about who previously traveled this route and also enjoyed the broad view of the mountain range.

For my beginning observations, I utilized various fieldwork to document the weathered birdhouses and the surrounding landscape. I took many seasonal visits to PK Lane to capture my observations with sketching, still photography and documenting the views of the mountains from many of the birdhouse locations.

Observing transitions of objects, which is the birdhouses and their surrounding environment has been a component in the three year process of fieldwork. The culmination of this body of work comes from considering my observations and research of the surrounding landscape, details and the disappearance of individual birdhouses, as well as considering the birdhouses viewpoint along PK Lane.