"Natures Force" Collage
“A lover of Earth. Someone who feels a profound connection to the Earth and holds a belief that all land is scared. One who acknowledges and deeply appreciates all the beauty, nourishment, magic and goodness that the Earth provides.”
A friend gave me a copy of this quote/definition. She got it off Instagram and it was written by Laura Dawn (@lauradawnartnotwar) She said it was so me she had to copy it for me. Yes, it does deeply resonated with my spirit and love of nature.
If you read last months blog: “No is a Complete Sentence”, you know that I was a bit overwhelmed by too much on my plate. Well, I did cut up that horrible painting. I repurposed parts in another painting and threw some of it away. The next day I went out and cut back my ten-foot hibiscus that was hitting my screen enclosure. I worked in the garden pulling weeds, they are easier to pull when they are tall, and I have since put my garden in order. My studio got organized and I have been productive. Nature does ground me and motivates me. Digging in the earth has a way of settling me.
As beautiful as nature is, it has its hard edges. Along came Milton to show us its power and it’s not so nice side. People have been badly hurt and displaced by its force. I feel deeply sorry for them. I also feel so grateful that we had so little damage living in the area that was so badly hit. I can’t help but think that “Mother Nature” is telling us something about what we are doing to her Earth. Are we responsible inhabitants?
Art is for me the perfect way to celebrate nature’s beauty, but it can also record its force. The forces that change the geographic landscape in such drastic ways.
Clean up was long and strenuous. But as I worked, I kept finding mini compositions. They encompassed all the elements of design for an interesting composition.
Line was evident in the exposed roots, downed branches, and the edges of rivulets left by water that had runoff. They were varied in shape, size, and configuration.
Color could be seen in the earth tones of wet soil and sand, downed leaves, and broken plants. The differences between red browns in the torn bark of the palm tree.
Shapes in the landscape had changed. A trees shape was altered by its loss of leaves and branches. There were holes and gullies where there were none before. The whole shape of a garden changed as plants were torn out and left with their roots exposed.
Texture was noticeable in bark that was ripped off exposing the soft silky inside of a tree trunk. There were rough piles of mulch massed in the finer grass. The tall grass beaten down by the wind was now in a thatched pattern. Shells that made their way to the surface, from the force of water moving soil around, were rough among the sand piles.
Most people saw a mess. This “Terraphile saw many mini paintings as she filled her 15 trash bags with debris.
“I think nature’s imagination is so much greater than man’s, she’s never going to let us relax.” Richard Feynman
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