Meandering, Contemplating and Visioning

I feel like an explorer, or an archaeologist, or a botanist. I have been exploring and am focused on patterns in nature. A swath of weeds standing in a staccato pattern attracts my eye, as do the wavy marks of an insect eating its way through tree bark. I have been digging through my past creative endeavors to find my personal patterns. I do tend towards vertical movement and lines. I have a pattern of diving space nearly in half; an even and equal division. And I am – once again – focused on the beauty of fallen leaves as they make their way from living thing to skeleton. I find myself walking slowly, gaze on the earth in front of me, scanning for beauty. I find irregular circles, curly lines and little speckles. I hear patterns in the bird calls. The male California quail with his persistent call to his brood as he watches over them from a high perch strikes me as an auditory pattern. I wonder what it would look like if I drew his call.

And I am wandering through the blogs of creative people everywhere. I think to myself how much more “real” this is than the mainstream media “news”. The creativity in the world is astounding and causes me to feel optimistic and peaceful. I am drawing – mark making and pattern creating. I hold the delicate tissue papers I have created and find small worlds and patterns that mimic nature and I am well pleased. I love the minimalism and softness of these papers. I continue to create individual pages for my artist book. The work is slow and that’s okay.

In other news, my friend collage artist Donna Watson has joined the blogging community and has her blog here. I am excited that she has started blogging. I know she is a committed artist who is authentic and generous. Her work always stops me in my tracks. She sure knows how to put together a collage!