Carving Out Some Time

12-17-18

Running one of many errands at a local nature center, I count the hours in my head before I need to pick up my two-year-old and finish the other things on my list.  I have 40 minutes free and pull out the small, travel watercolor set I carry with me always.  The smaller pieces of paper from the set direct my process as I focus on a small section at the base of multiple trees growing together. 

Normally, I build a drawing or painting by blocking out the forms lightly with a pencil starting with the largest, and gradually building up to the smaller shapes and details.  But today, I can’t find my pencil.  The added limitation further directs my process as I focus on the shapes and spaces between the forms, the textures of sporadic leaves, the subtle shifts in color, and the end of lines as one shoot disappears behind another. Without worrying about what the final drawing will look like, I build the marks, careful to control the amount of water and pressure, using mostly the tip of my round brush.  I paint slowly, deliberately, with each mark corresponding to a specific area of the plants in front of me.
 
The result is a sweet bouquet of mostly vertical, wiggling lines.  I smile at my simple reminder of this time reconnecting- carved out of a busy schedule.  A guide walks by and talks to me about birds and ecosystems and wanting to paint more.  It’s a beautiful day.

December 2018