On mornings in the Great Smokey Mountains, the peaks hold the clouds.
Entries Tagged as 'watercolor'
Cloud Mountains
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Doing What Works
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
“When it’s over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.”
—Mary Oliver, “When Death Comes,” New and Selected Poems
I realized again why I don’t like sketching or painting live on scene. When I’m amidst beauty, I can’t draw or paint it. I feel totally overwhelmed, any skill I have rendered useless. I admire other artists who can work on-scene, but that capacity did not come standard on my operating equipment.
I tried yesterday, sitting on a smooth rock in the middle of the rushing Pigeon River. A man was fly fishing upstream, and children were swimming and squealing in the far distance. Late afternoon light was filtering through the trees, dappling the clear water and river-bottom stones. I attempted to sketch, but I couldn’t communicate even the smallest bit of that beauty to the page. So I put away my journal and just sat, and watched, and eventually walked a ways.
When I got back to the cabin, though, I wanted to sketch. Then, making art felt as natural as emptying my pockets of acorns, seeds, and river rocks. Self-permission to discover and do what works for me is the best kind of freedom.