Creating Nature Art

We had a wonderful restorative time in the Outer Banks!  The weather was not-to-be-believed-beautiful!  We had a day and a half of bad weather with lots of rain - perfect excuse to stay inside and read and cook good meals and hang out together.  The rest of the time was gorgeous!  Sunny, 60 degrees, comfortable, not too breezy.  We did a lot of walking on the beach - Chris went for a five hour walk one day - boy, was he sore the next!

One day we walked a long way into the National Park.  We found a huge 35' tall pine tree that had been washed up onto the shore - WAY up!  All the bark was stripped off, and it was almost driftwood - except for the roots which still had bark on them - that's how I could identify it.  There was a knife stuck in it, so Chris carved our names into the tree - my first!  Then I began doing an Andrew Goldsworthy.  (If you don't know who he is, check out his work.  It's amazing!  He's an artist who works in nature, taking natural elements and creating order out of them.  The picture here is one of his.)  What I did was nowhere near as interesting as that, but I had fun!  I began gathering up debris on the beach - both natural and unnatural - and decorating the tree.  We stuck plastic bottles on the roots and plastic bottle caps all over like Christmas ornaments.  I hung found rope around the branches like garlands.  There were 100's of birds' feathers which I stuck out of the roots every which way, then I lined the long straight trunk with 100 shells in a straight line. It was so absorbing to modify nature by embellishing it with its own beauty along with mankind's trash.  Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me, so I can't show what it looked like, but below are some pictures from other Nature Art sessions I've taken part in.

The first is from the summer at The Clearing in Amelia County.  It's a Quaker retreat place where I go sometimes for weekends just to be away from it all.  There are many acres of beauty.  Chris and I often go there today.  One time we spent an afternoon creating art...  The sticks you see there are wrapped in green spring leaves.

One of the most fun times I had making nature art was in April at a Contact Improvisation Jam at Claymont in West Virginia.  I used to go there 2-3 times/year to dance for 4 or 5 days at a time.  It was fantastically fun!  One time we watched the Andy Goldsworthy video then the next day went out and played in nature for several hours.  Folks would walk along as we were doing it and join us or gawk or admire.  It was wonderful.  Here are several pictures from then:

I'm very taken with the difference between these two pictures of the rock circle.  They're at the exact same time of day.  All that changed is the angle from which I took the shot.  Andrew Goldsworthy plays with the change in light a lot too.

Circles seemed to be a thing for us that day.

Our friends liked the rock circle too!

Some of these are subtle.  Can you find our contribution in this one?

I was fascinated by the dandelions which were in great profusion at that time of year - April.  I made them into chains and bunches and strings and patterns and anything else I could think of.

Another woman hung hers from a tree.  Delightful!

If the rocks could talk, what would they be saying now?

The third time I really enjoy making Nature Art was when I led a workshop in January at a Quaker Women's Retreat.  I showed bits of Andrew Goldsworthy's video then we all went outside and made stuff.  It was cool to see how intent everyone got.  Afterwards many people came out to take a look and to delight at the many creations.

The circle was again a compelling shape to create.

Perhaps you can tell from the light that it was cold and clear this January day, but that didn't stop people from creating.  The available materials were sparse - nothing was blooming, almost everything was dormant, but still people found beauty and creativity abounding.

And yet another season: Fall - October.  This time I was at Dayspring Retreat Center for a Silent Retreat with the Quakers.  (I used to go to a LOT of retreats!  Back in the days when I was single and had weekends without my kids and needed something to keep me busy so I wouldn't miss them!)

Fall leaves are my favorite - there's so much you can do with the blazing colors.

This was contributed by Mother Nature herself.  No arrangements necessary on my part.  Same for the pictures below.  They were just waiting for me to notice.  That's the wonderful thing about Silent Retreats - I take the time to notice because there are no distractions.  Pure silence, out in nature, time to think and feel and notice.  Ahhhhhhhhhhh.

So now are you inspired to go out and make something beautiful where you live? On the street, in the back alley, in your garden? Wherever you are, you can find or create a pattern. Chances are, once you start, people will want to join you. It's a very solitary pursuit, but it does tend to engage others in wonderful ways. I'd love to see pictures of anything you create! Have fun!

Quaker Women's Retreat this weekend

I had a great time attending the Quaker Women's Retreat at Skycroft Retreat Center in Middleburg, MD this past weekend.  It's about the 10th retreat I've been to.  They're always wonderful.  140 very cool women - authentic, empowered, engaged in full lives, for the most part following their passion and leading, working for the good of the world.  It's fantastic spending time with such a group of people.  I consistently come away from the weekends feeling energized, affirmed, fascinated, and having met wonderful people.

This year I especially enjoyed having the opportunity to give a workshop on Women's Body Image.  I spent many hours preparing for it, trying to figure out exactly what my focus would be, how I'd present it, etc. 

What I ended up doing was showing a lot of pictures and asking questions with them.  We had some great discussions.  Over the next few days, I'll present my talk here in abbreviated form along with the pictures and questions.  I would love to get some conversation going between any of you readers who feel moved to respond.  I think this is a vitally important issue, and I'd love your input.

So here's the first question: 

What do you think makes a woman beautiful??

This morning I woke up and hurried and scurried so I could get to my massage appointment on time so I could relax properly!  Silly.  It was a lovely massage, though not quite relaxing.  Carol, my massage therapist, is quite fantastic.  She was working with my fascia (the parchment like tissues on top of everything but the skin) to try to stretch them to give me some relief from the back strain and hand pain I've been experiencing the last 10 days or so.  It's been pretty close to excruciating.  NO FUN.  I hope it's going to help, but I don't think I helped myself along too well by coming home and heading straight out to the studio.

I've been so excited to work on Mother and Daughter Jocks.  I've had way too little time lately, so I was feeling especially anxious to get some work done today.  I had mixed up the paint last time I was out here so I'd be ready to go.

I was thinking about which brush to use for maximum coverage, then I realized I actually wanted to use my hands!  Having just gotten the massage, I had the feeling of Carol's hands rubbing my body, making it feel better.  I wanted to create the mother's body on canvas the same way.  I imagined myself rubbing my hands along her body where her body curves.  I realize that could sound sexual, but it wasn't at all - anymore than a massage is sexual.  It was a lovely image, creating flesh on two dimensions.  It felt completely right.  I've started work this way before then have moved on to brushes, but I think this time I might just stay with using my hands.  I like the rougher surface.  I'm not finished with the body - I can see areas that need refinement, but I do like the surface this makes.  The daughter has been done so far with a brush, but next time I have time to work, I'll use my hands there too.  I think I'll keep the background smooth.  I enjoy the contrast.  Not sure what I'll do with the racquet and ball.

I painted the mother's face today, too, but it is so far from how it needs to be that I'm not showing that aspect of it.  The colors got very messed up and ugly!  I'll tackle it next time I have time - which may not be until next Monday.  I'm going out of town this coming weekend and am leaving at 2 on Friday so may not have time to work before then.

I'll be going to a Quaker Women's Retreat where I'll give a workshop on Women's Body Image.  I'm going to show paintings and photos of women through the ages and lead a discussion on how the image of the ideal beauty has changed so much.  I'm looking forward to the opportunity to talk about all this stuff I think about all the time with a group of women who are also interested in the topic.