As a hunter I have spent hours sitting quietly observing nature and I always carry a sketch book. One sunny fall day I was sitting under a stand of sumac branches turkey hunting. I got my sketch book out and the sumac branches cast the most interesting pattern on the paper. I traced the pattern and later colored it creating this unusual abstract image. Since that day the idea of “Nature as the Origin of Abstract” has been floating around in my head. One definition of abstract is the expression of ideas and emotions by using elements such as colors and lines without attempting to create a realistic picture. My vision was to create a series of paintings, starting with realistic pictures of different patterns in nature, to inspire abstract finished pieces. I decided to apply for a Southwest Minnesota Art Council (SMAC) Emerging Artist Grant to create a series of ten abstract paintings using this process. After being awarded the grant I began the process by taking several photographs of patterns in Nature (Mother Nature’s part of the collaboration). I had them printed on canvas and painted over the images letting the patterns guide me in a spontaneous process. I will be posting these paintings in my website gallery over the next few days. A virtual exhibit so to speak.
My message today. Get outside. Look closely at the inspiring artistic textures and patterns nature has to offer. We can always find beauty in nature…even in challenging times like these.
I am thankful for the support I received to create this series of paintings. This activity is made possible by a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council with funds from The McKnight Foundation.
On this day everything is perfect. The sun seems to rise more slowly. The sky is perfectly blue. The wind is as gentle as a mother with a newborn baby. The fog has done its work under the light of the moon with the stars for inspiration. Large ice crystals hang like Christmas lights on every tree, bush and blade of grass. With each breath of wind they sparkle like fire flies. Everyone is working together in perfect harmony. More wind, the crystals fall like sprinkles of glitter on the snow below. More sun, they melt.
Each time this happens I run for my camera and coat in a futile attempt to capture what I see hoping to share it with the people I love so much. In the summer I attempt the same thing with fireflies and frogs.
Wild beautiful nature. It can never truly be captured.
Hoarfrost, deposit of ice crystals on objects exposed to the free air, such as grass blades, tree branches, or leaves. It is formed by direct condensation of water vapour to ice at temperatures below freezing and occurs when air is brought to its frost point by cooling.
What a year 2019 has been! The birthing of this web site, with the help of the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council (SMAC), was much more difficult than I imagined it would be. My technical skills in this area are pretty ruff. I still struggle with how it all works and worry that I might break something in the process. On the flip side I have created sooo much art this past year including many commissioned pieces which I am deeply thankful for. I received a SMAC grant to create a series of ten paintings themed “Nature’s Abstract Nature”. They are very close to completion and are scheduled to show at The Smallest Art Gallery in Ortonville, Minnesota some time this year. More on that project in a future post. If you are here reading; thank you for checking out my web site. This is feeling strangely like a Christmas letter and not a blog post so I think I will end it here. Wishing you all the best for 2020!
I am a Prairie Princess. I love putting the coffee on and starting the fire first thing in the morning to take the chill off of this old farm house. Sweeping the mess of bark and grass of to the side of the hearth with a small hand broom brings me joy in my heart.
My next task is always standing in front of an east facing window watching the light change as the glow ball sun reaches the horizon. It feeds my soul through my eyes. Even on a busy day when there is much to be done I can’t help but stop and wonder at the beautiful light.
It is winter now and for me a time to be quiet and reflect. Why did I take being a princess as a negative when I learned that was a name I had been given behind my back this past year? Why didn’t I just say thank you? I mean think about it. What is a princess? Beautiful, kind, graceful, poised, loved by her royal subjects. In hindsight that doesn’t seem so bad to me.
What kind of princess (or prince) are you?
The mustard seed part comes from a bible verse about having faith the size of a mustard seed and being able to move mountains. I’m not a very religious person but I am hugely a faithful person. I’m very connected to nature so that’s where the wild comes in. I know that’s sort of short and sweet but that’s basically it.
Forgive Me
Angels are wonderful yet they are so, well, aloof. It’s what I sense in the mud and the roots of the trees, or the well, or the barn, or the rock with its citron map of lichen that halts my feet and makes my eyes flare, feeling the presence of some spirit, some small god, who abides there.
If I were a perfect person, I would be bowing continuously.
I’m not though I pause wherever I feel this holiness, which is why I’m often so late coming back from wherever I went.
Forgive me.
Mary Oliver
This poem is exactly how I feel about this beautiful place that I live. The first time I read this poem it brought me to tears. I thought, there is someone out there who feels exactly the same way I do. Thinking about it now I imagine there are many someones out there who feel this way.
In the country the sky is big, the view is long and the magic is never ending. I am so thankful. I too feel like I should be bowing continuously.
Lately I have found a new fascination with unusual words. Primarily words that I feel like someone made up just for me. My use of vocabulary has always been pretty stripped down and basic and I’ve never really felt the need to expand. So why now? Maybe because I’ve started this we site and that requires me to write for more than just myself? Maybe the universe is sending me tiny messages…a word at a time? Messages telling me; this is who you are.
If that is the case today’s message is the word Gokotta (zyohh-koh-tah). This is a Swedish word with a meaning that fits me to a tee. Gokotta is the act of rising early just to go outside and hear the birds sing. It is exactly what I am doing this morning as I write this post. It is what I’m called to do every morning rain or shine. Many times I’m out on the deck in my PJ’s, a jacket and a blanket with a hot cup of coffee enjoying the magic a yet another day coming alive.
Often my city friends will say to me “You must really enjoy the peace and quiet of living in the country.” Peace yes. Quiet not very often. The closest to quiet we get would probably be in the dead of winter, no wind and a steady temperature or perhaps right before a storm when it is completely still and everyone/thing is listening for what is to come. The crickets, the frogs, even the grass silently waits.
This morning the wind is rustling through the young leaves of early summer. The baby sparrows are following their mothers around wings quaking crying to be fed. The tiny wrens are full of self-expression. Their song cuts through all the other sounds. I imagine they are saying, “I am tiny but I have a voice and it matters!” It’s early enough that the drake mallards are still chasing the hens and chattering away as they do so. The hummingbird’s come in like giant bumble bees humming happily as they fill up their bellies. This morning the cat bird sounds like a squeaky swing off in the distance. The warblers are the quiet ones. The only noise they seem to make is the splashing of their wings as they bath in the bit of water that puddles on the edge of the garden.
For me it’s all magical. It fills my heart and calms my soul. What better way to start each day.
So yes, I am a Gokotta Master. I highly recommend you give it a try.
Blog dislaimer; Please note that I practice “Creative Grammar” at all times. If you are a master in this area and enjoy finding mistakes you will love my blog! If you are someone who has something to say but fear you will make a mistake in how you say it. Have no fear. Creative Grammar is here!