Looking at the landscape — appreciating it and learning from it — is not different from the sensitivities of storytelling. I enjoy depicting natural scenes because they contain stories: characters, plots and changes over time.
The more I read good poetry, and learn to write better poetry, the more I see how the details of natural landscapes and stories go together.
I received notification this week that I have work accepted into a landscape-themed exhibit in Pennsylvania. (Regular readers may remember that last week I wrote about the process of applying to exhibits and the discipline of artist statements. So, here’s the first reply I received and I got a YES! Yaaaaayyy! Details at the end of blog post.)
Artmakers who are inspired by nature can go about responding to that inspiration in a number of ways. Here are some examples from the works I submitted to this exhibit.
CLOSE-UPS
This is Listening to the Language of Trees.
I created this work from squares of individually printed tree patterns. What interested me in the project is the repetition: same but different. I layered colors and shapes in different orders on each square, with the screen-printed tree form being the dominant pattern. To me, it captures the feel of being right close-up in tree branches or a thicket, realizing the complexity of tree shapes.
Detail Listening to the Language of Trees
NATURE + CHARACTERS
This is Florida Undercurrents.
This was one of my earliest art quilts, and I did a lot that I still like very much. I enjoyed the process of creating water patterns with shaped sections of fabric. I enjoyed printing the grass-like shapes for the border from actual grasses from my garden.
And, as with Listening to the Language of Trees, I have done some rearranging of the scene one would actually see.
Below the person floating in the springs we see prehistoric fish, based on images of fish that actually inhabited what is now Florida long before there were folks tubing on the river. The composition shows different time periods, side by side. The simple idyllic scene of floating in a tube now serves as part of a larger story. Where did the prehistoric fish go? How do such changes occur? What will become of the person now floating serenely?
Detail Florida Undercurrents
ABSTRACTING
This is Just Below the Surface.
I was inspired by a photo I took of fascinating rock and root patterns that I discovered when digging out a garden right next to my driveway. Only inches below the surface; they look wild, untamed and strong. I wanted to create an abstracted environment to represent the rich interplay of life forms down in the dirt. Dirt is more than just brown. It is alive with complexity. I enjoyed putting the photographic images next to the patterned colored fabric as a way to speak to this indescribably complex existence.
Detail Just Below the Surface
Three ways to view landscape. Three submissions to an exhibit. This is the one that was accepted:
If you live near this part of Pennsylvania, I hope you will visit the show. It incudes works in a variety of mediums, and it will be interesting to see how other artists responded to the concept of Nature – Serene and Savage. And — if you visit — please let me know!
If you would like more information about the works shown in this post, you can find them on my website at these links: (They are all in the gallery called Layered Nature.)
LISTENING TO THE ANGUAGE OF TREES
FLORIDA UNDERCURRENTS
JUST BELOW THE SURFACE
For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
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