Fog, a wooded path, trees, mountains, a swirling sky... What do these have in common, besides being found in nature?  These are some of the images I am creating in my art as I grapple with themes of movement, growth, change and expansion.  What appears as a passive static landscape is really a form exploding with life.  I attempt to show the vitality of this aliveness by using long dynamic lines and rich vivid color in my oils and pastels.  That path, those mountains, fog rolling in, are ever-changing entities.  They have a life of their own, a spirit-infused from within. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest I was always outdoors exploring. My love of nature was born in that landscape with its monumental mountains and gigantic wet forests.  Hiking has given me a connection with these landforms.  Now living in beautiful California, I am reminded of the  interconnectedness of all things.  My images come from sketches and photographs I have taken while hiking. It is my desire to paint the spirit within the form.  Hopefully the beauty of the land will entice myself and others to honor and protect her.

 

 

“A song of the rolling earth, and its words accordingly,

Were you thinking that those were the words, those upright lines, those curves, angles, dots?

No, those are not the words; the substantial words are in the ground

and sea,

They are in the air, they are in you.”                         

 

From A Song of the Rolling Earth                         

By Walt Whitman