Visitors of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue's Morgan Arboretum can try to spot all the giant bird nests that have popped up around the nature preserve. These larger-than-life wooden nests are quite the sight, although it is not the doing of a giant feathered creature.
Bonnie-Jane Major is a Senneville artist whose woodworkings include large-scale sculptures, barn quilts, hard-edge paintings, and home accessories. For Bonnie-Jane Designs, her company, she collects wood from the Magdalen Islands to create her works. She was inspired to begin a collective art installation at the Arboretum, where she frequently walks with her dog Maggie. She began taking fallen branches from the ground in different areas of the preserve with some friends and decided to put her artistry to work.
PHOTOS: Bonnie-Jane Design
Behind this concept of a nest is a part of the personal story she wishes to share with Arboretum visitors. When her two children left home a year and a half ago, she felt like an empty nester.
"So what better thing to create than a giant, empty nest? My friends and I built the first nest together. I thought it'd be fun for whoever walks through the Arbo to try and find all three. It's a nest hunt, a bit different from an egg hunt."
PHOTOS: Bonnie-Jane Design
Bonnie-Jane is thrilled that people have found amusement in her work and that some are collaborating by adding their own branches to the nests. Not one of the three looks like the other, and the different trees surrounding the nests are represented by the varying wood.
PHOTOS: Bonnie-Jane Design
"It's about gathering people and creating a collaborative piece. I want to build a fourth nest."
Visitors can purchase their day pass at the Gatehouse any day from 9 am to 4 pm and enjoy the site until closure at 5 pm. The admission fee into the Arbo is 8$ for adults, 4.50$ for children, and 5.50$ for seniors and students.
For more information on Bonnie-Jane Designs, visit https://bonniejanedesign.com/
