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300lb coldpress Arches, Athens Georgia, Ben Burton Park, color, Cornus Florida, dogwood, drawing, Elder Mill Covered Bridge, expressionism, expressionist, expressive, Jil Ashton-Leigh, Media and Subjects, Native Plants, nature, North Oconee Greenway, Painting, Pink Dogwood blooms, process, Quote, Skull Shoals, spring, walk, walk in the N.Georgia woods, watercolor, Watkinsville Georgia
looking forward and back again …#600
This is the 600th post and coming at the end of the year it is time to step back and also look forward.
It’s serendipitous that I did this painting 002 Native Dogwood (Cornus Florida) in time for this post. It wasn’t my intention to to echo the first painting of my native nature project in approach and technique. it is fitting; however, that I did for this post. This painting was done on saturated 300lb Arches cold press. My goal was to express the feel of Pink Dogwood blooms stirred by a light Spring breeze.
I began the native and nature exploration project on May 25, 2014 with Native Dogwood (Cornus florida) 2014. So far the journey has led me through studies of several native plants; back to the Oconee River at Ben Burton Park; along the Oconee River Greenway, and the Georgia State Botanical Gardens here in Athens, Georgia. I have journeyed south to Watkinsville to find the Elder Mill Covered Bridge and Rose Creek; into Greene County looking for the ghost town named Skull Shoals in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. These have been fun and interesting adventures well worth the time and effort to take them. The questions now become what and where next?
Logically if you like to paint nature and landscapes you have to go out and find it. Nature of course lives all around us and you don’t have to go to exotic locations to find her. I enjoy painting in the field behind my house but I also like to go out on little expeditions and adventures to slightly more distant places. Painting nature and landscapes is capturing a sense of time and place, establishing a context for yourself and through you, the viewer. What drives me forward; the reason I paint is learning. Every painting is a unique opportunity for learning; an adventure into uncharted territory. I am a confirmed autodidact. Everytime I place brush or pencil to paper is a chance to learn about my subject, my medium, my journey and most importantly about myself.
“There is unspeakable beauty and potential to be found in nature. It entices me and is an invitation I just have to accept.” (Jil Ashton-Leigh)
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