In all my years growing up and as an adult in Florida, I longed for cold winters. I dreamed of snowy days and cozy nights, only getting small doses on quick trips North. Since traveling through the West and Northwest for almost six (!!) years, I’m finally experiencing the seasons as I always hoped to.
I hear people complain about the cold and snow, but for me, it never ceases to be magical.
The streets are quiet, all the bustle of life slows and is muted.
Colors become deeper and more saturated.
Everything sparkles.
Expanses of white bring colors and textures to the forefront, giving them room to breathe, space to show off. This interaction informs and inspires my work more and more as I seek to create paintings that emanate that same sense of peace and quiet.
Whenever Mr. F and I are away from the coastal Northwest for a long period of time, I find that what I miss most is the mossy trees and fern covered forest floors. These “Muppet trees”, as I like to call them, inhabit the moist woods in the Pacific Northwest and in this edition of The Artsy Nature, after spying Saline. Lumi. Breath., a gorgeous new painting by Jennifer JL Jones, I was immediately transported back to one of the loveliest spots in the Northwest.
photo | staircase hike, olympic national park, wa
art |saline. lumi. breath.( detail ) by jennifer jl jones, mixed media on wood, 72×72
On a foggy, cool morning in the early Fall of last year ( before the government shutdown closed access to the National Parks ), Mr. F and I began a short little jaunt into Olympic National Park that would be one of our favorite hikes of 2013. Not strenuous, no giant, sweeping views of snowcapped mountains, just the quiet hushed lushness of the temperate rainforest. Clouded skies cast a purplish light into the woods, only the dripping of the dew from the leaves and the fall of our feet on the mossy floor to be heard. If big mountains are outdoor cathedrals, woods like these are tiny chapels. Cozy and unassuming, you are left to ponder not on the grandeur of creation, but on its ever closeness.
While Mr. F and I were reluctant desert-dwellers and are sure to steer clear in the summer months, I’ll be the first to admit that spring in the desert is absolutely enchanting. What has been dry and dormant for months on end comes to life with color!
This post is the second in a new series, The Artsy Nature, in which I pair a photograph from our travels and forays into the wild with a work of art in which I find a reminder of that moment.
Though I have no idea the original inspiration for Karen Silve‘s Wildflowers 1 ( cropped above ), the palette of yellows and greens instantly takes me back to our desert spring. It was a time when we knew our own arid wandering would soon come to end and life was filled with dreaming of new beginnings. That spring was also a time of renewal for both of us, I remember us both brimming with energy and creativity, just as Silve’s painting is awash in lively movement.
Judging from the blog’s title & if you’ve been reading for awhile, you’ve probably guessed that Mr. F and I are the outdoorsy types. We both thrive on time spent among the quiet beauty of the outdoors, whether surrounded by snow-capped mountains or digging our toes into the black sand of Northwest beaches. I’m finding artistic inspiration in nature for my own series of work, so why not find it in the work of other artists, too? Often when I see an artist’s work, my mind connects it to the memory of a place I’ve been or a detail observed or sometimes, an outdoor scene will call the artist’s work to mind. It’s the whole chicken vs. egg thing, but this time, with art and nature.
So with this post, I’m launching a new series, The Artsy Nature, in which I pair a photograph from our traverses in the great outdoors with a piece of artwork.
One of my absolute favorite features in the wondrous beauty that is Yellowstone were the geysers and hot springs. Algae and micro bacteria create gorgeously saturated coloration in the most heavenly palette.
Nature is the most spectacular of canvases, isn’t it? Look for more The Artsy Nature posts coming your way!
Photo by Artsy Forager, art image credit linked above.
As you may recall, Mr. Forager and I recently returned from a long camping trip in Glacier National Park and Yellowstone ( and we threw in the Lewis & Clark Caverns on the way home ‘cuz we weren’t nearly exhausted enough already ). We both love the outdoors and as I told Christina Baker in our Artist Takeover interview, I find the natural world to be incredibly inspiring in its artistry. I thought you might enjoy a few of examples of nature’s artsiness I found while traversing through two of the US’s most beautiful places!
Glacier National ParkMammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National ParkPrismatic Spring, Yellowstone National ParkThermophiles in hot spring, Yellowstone National ParkHot spring flow, Yellowstone National ParkTreeline on the drive to the East Entrance, Yellowstone National ParkInside the Lewis & Clark Caverns, Whitehall, MT
Isn’t nature the most incredible abstract artist? What are some of your favorite natural abstractions?
