Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Into the Woods

Walking in the woods is one of my favorite things to do. Take two steps into the wild wood, and you are miles away from civilization.

Three steps and you are a world away.

You can close your eyes and take a breath and you can slowly exhale because there is time for that in the woods.

In the woods there is always time.

Listen, and you hear birdsong, or the whisper of trees, or the crackle of branches. Walk and your footfall is the invader. But stop and stand and listen and feel and you are a respectful guest and you understand.

That is how I feel about the woods.

I love to visit the Everglades, the wildest and most diverse area that Florida has to offer, but I have precious little time for that. And hardly time to visit woods at all. But civilization has a solution to that problem: sometimes you can just go to a park. So this last week I took my son Matthew to AD Barnes Park. It's on "Bird Road" (and I like that).

Much of the park is field or playground or picnic area. But on the far corner is the nature trail - most visitors don't know about it - and that is where the magic is. This is where the birds know - they know - to come, because the trees are native and welcoming.

When we arrived at the park, Matthew had fallen asleep in the back seat of the car. I didn't want to disturb him until he'd rested a little. So I parked the car just outside the nature area and combined an old passion with a new; I pulled out my Moleskine and sketched the spot with watercolors. In parts I let the colors flow a little, looser than I'm used to. I'm trying different things, a part of my learning. I feel I'm just beginning to sense some of the secrets of the medium. Just beginning. On the right I tried an impression of branches that are concealed and revealed in sections. I'm not too happy with the way they turned out but not too worried either. I'm just learning after all.

I also cropped this sketch to improve the composition. Rather than do this digitally, or manually cut off a portion of the page, I decided to fold the end of the Moleskine page over. So when I turn the page of the Moleskine, I see the part of the woods I removed, with its lush green and its rounded edges, folded over the blank page. I will keep it like that, and add some compatible drawing on the blank page. Any ideas?

Such fun, - a change so small, like folding the edge of a page in my Moleskine - and it yields such wonder and possibility. It's as though I've walked three steps into the woods. I am a world away.

21 comments:

  1. I sense the warm sunbeams in the center of your painting.

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  2. Your joy is evident in this beautiful composition! I really love the quality of the light and shadow.

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  3. That's a wise and intuitive decision pulling out your Moleskine like that Dan, and usually when your blood is boiling about something, that's probably the best time to let it all out. I'd say perfect timing + perfect action = perfect result. It's not hard to picture what you saw and how you were feeling back there in the woods, your words and your drawing did all the explanation, literally and visually. ^^

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  4. Glad you enjoyed yourself: the result is great: beautiful colours !
    What about drawing one or 2 different types of leaves or a small part of a tree trunk, or some flowers living there, on the blank page. Go on enjoying yourself, it's so good for us to read rested, paeceful, happy words !

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  5. You're inspiring me to delve into the world of watercolors. I too enjoy being in the woods and have in the past attempted to make sketches of the trails I traversed. I really wasn't thrilled with my results & so never continued. However, if I don't continue, I'll never improve. So, I guess I'll follow your lead and experiment.

    Your watercolor does look like you enjoyed yourself and ultimately, that's what it's all about eh?

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  6. What a lovely 'misty' and mysterious quality this has - I love your use of colour. Also very impressed with your coffee pot, a couple of posts back. It is so easy to lose an hour or two when painting - time just disappears.

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  7. Dan, what a cool blog you have developed! Your work is so creative and full of feeling - I love it, and also the narrative. LOVE the coffee pot and coffee cup. Great painting style. I'm putting a link to it on my blog, too. I'll be watching for more. Thank you for your comments, too. RoseAnn Hayes

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  8. I love your loose, juicy watercolor! Great project - can't wait to see more.

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  9. Very nice and full of golden light - wonderful use of your down time, Dan!

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  10. Yesterday I actually took a sketchbook with me on one of my daughter's outings. (I didn't sketch tho - just read my book). Your writing on the wood is entrancing. I lived down in Homestead for 2 yrs and spent a lot of time in the Everglades N.P. camping, fishing and hiking. It was one of the cooler times (not temp wise) of my life.

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  11. You achieved depth in your picture and made the nature area so inviting. Along with your comments you caught the essence of Everyday Matters.

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  12. Dan, that's how I feel about the woods too. Who really goes camping or hiking for the bugs? It's all about the solace of nature, the refreshing of the mind. I'm glad you were inspired enough to paint it, and learning or not, it turned out very well. Keep at it!

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  13. Here's what I think. You ought to be a writer for someone. Either for an art magazine or a newspaper. Well, now that I think of it, you ARE a writer...for a blog. But seriously I almost want to go get a cup of coffee and put my feet up (which wouldn't work because then I couldn't see the monitor) every time I see you've posted something.

    I think it's great that you're playing with your paints, watching them to see what they'll do, letting them teach you how they work. Good stuff. Your painting is natural, shows the air of the area, completely fresh and free. Very good!

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  14. Wonderful insightful sentiments about the woods. Oh, by-the-way, your watercolor sketch is lovely. I especially like the purples and bluish-greens.

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  15. I think it looks great. I get a feeling of lush green growth and I'd like to enter into it so I think you got your point across nicely. Check out Roz's blog here to see what she's doing about folded over pages and papers in a journal.
    Hope your son enjoyed the woods also. Kids get so little exposure to nature anymore.

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  16. I think it must be a written rule somewhere that people who like to draw must also love the outdoors. I grew up camping. It doesn't matter how hot, sweaty, and mosquito-bitten I get, I absolutely love it! (Okay, maybe it matters a little, but you know what I mean!)
    This is a great watercolor sketch! I definitely can see that you are looser!
    Personally, I can't seem to get much done lately. Computer problems driving me nuts! I'm not a patient person when I'm dealing with the machine, which is why I'm glad I have some woods behind my house. Need to go "close my eyes and take a breath"!

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  17. Wow Dan, I've been away for a week and here you are giving it a great go at the watercolours…and lovely story to go with it. looking forward to seeing more.

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  18. Dan This is such a change for you, this looseness and pushing of paint, rather than pulling it into perspective shapes (which you do so well). You've created a wonderful page of light and its glow. Bravo!

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  19. Beautiful watercolor with great light.

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  20. Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments on my painting and writing! Martine, I love your idea - and that is what I am going to do! Ellen - with your blo, I know you are a lover of words, and I am greatly complimented by your comments on my writing. I often try as hard (and sometimes harder) in the writing as the art - they are two sides of the same coin I think (the third side being music). Yes, it's a three-sided coin..details, details.

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