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.
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November- Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge, Alamo, Texas
An unassuming opening in the brush presents a study in the soft, subtle differences of green- a similarity and variety that change with each passing moment as the sun disappears momentarily behind a cloud and gradually changes its position in the sky. As I lay down watercolor and pastel, there is constant movement and I hear lizards scuttle through the grass and tiny birds flutter through the dense brush. |
Jessica MonroeWorking to foster a deeper connection with nature by using art as a means to engage with the natural world. Archives
May 2024
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