Inward Reflections and Retrospections

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"The Muir Tree", deforestation, incubation time for growth, our sick planet, retrospection

Costa Rica aerial image from 2012 – View of Playas San Miguel, Bejuco, Corazalito and Islita.

“TO go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society. I am not solitary whilst I read and write, though nobody is with me. But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and what he touches.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson – from Nature

Today a friend shared news of a New-Year’s Day airline commuter crash in Costa Rica. The Corazalito airstrip was near where I once lived, and there are many great memories of that unique little welcome center, complete with thatched-roof ‘reception shack’ with original art on its facade. I’ve experienced those turbulent winds that often announce the change of the seasons, winds that grasp a pilot’s attention as well as the passengers’ attentions.   Although I did not know any of the 12 people who died this past week, the news makes me reflect on the shattered lives of the families and loved ones – while reminding us that we only have this moment.

That news put me in a deeper reflective mood than normal, one that prompted this poor attempt to explain what’s been percolating in my psyche over the past few months.

(You have the right to excuse yourself from this reading room; those who choose to hang with me, I hope that the following makes sense…)
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Timeout for Art: Imagination vs Scientific Seriousness

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"The Muir Tree", Acrylic paintings of trees, palo santo tree, scientific illustration

“I spread out my map under a tree and made up my mind to go through Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia to Florida, thence to Cuba, thence to some part of South America; but it will be only a hasty walk…

I wandered away on a glorious botanical and geological excursion, which has lasted nearly fifty years and is not yet completed, always happy and free, poor and rich, without thought of a diploma or of making a name, urged on and on through endless, inspiring Godful beauty.John Muir — The Story of My Boyhood and Youth (1913),

Like John Muir, I had a childhood dream,  but mine was to live in Argentina’s pastoral Pampas region, painted so lovely in my fifth-grade geography book.  I wanted to raise quarter horses and ride the pampas like those gaucho cowboys!

Those Mississippi-childhood dreams faded, though every so often I was wistful to live in the Neotropics, home to exotic botanical specimens I thirsted to see in person, where locals conveniently used large tropical leaves for impromptu umbrellas and where heliconias soared to the moon.

The road less traveled eventually delivered me to Central America and then Ecuador, places where the temperatures never dipped below freezing – unless I desired to visit the peaks of Chimborazo, Cotopaxi or other high-altitude landmarks that dot South America’s Andean spine.

There are times when I enjoy an eye-to-eye inspection of those exotic plants, and by capturing their likeness with pencil or water media, I discover minute details that otherwise might be missed. I always walk away with deeper respect for the plant and its support cast of companions.

Brugmansia leaf detail – acrylic

Detail: Brugmansia y Ginger – Acrylic

Wildflowers facing north! (Acrylic)

While painting this Thunbergia study, I noticed monarch caterpillars nibbling the leaves of a nearby milkweed!

There are times when I toss the scientific seriousness aside and allow the personality of the subject to emerge. These always bring great mischievous joy, as if freeing a personality that was trapped by a long-ago wicked spell.  Most people can easily spot the human spirit in Ecuador’s Ceibo trees Ceiba trichistandra.

Presently I’m in the tropical dry forest, where for half a year the climate is humid with bi-polar rainfall, depending on moods of the nearby Pacific waters.   The rainy season weans into the dry season, and many trees go into a dormant stage.

It is in this section of Ecuador’s coast where the gigantic Ceibo trees join forces with the much-smaller Palo Santo.   These two trees leave lasting imprints on those who bond with the flora and fauna of the area.

‘What is that unique sweet smell?’ people might ask.   Many times it’s the subtle aroma of a just-bruised branch of Palo Santo.    The dried ‘holy’ wood is burned to repel mosquitoes as well as to clean a room of heavy energies or bad spirits.

Palo Santo tree

Recently my friend Luchi and I began work on a painting of a Palo Santo tree, which grows along Ecuador’s Pacific coast.  He presented some photos he hoped to work with, and we inspected two trees growing in the hostal gardens.  I began the painting as he watched, and then he joined the painting session!

Timeout for Art – The Muir Tree

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"The Muir Tree", acrylic paintings, John Muir Quotes, Painting trees, Timeout for Art

The trees are watching!  Near Rio Cinto-Mindo Ecuador

“Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away; and if they could, they would still be destroyed — chased and hunted down as long as fun or a dollar could be got out of their bark hides, branching horns, or magnificent bole backbones. .” — John Muir

Sometimes a work of art ‘just happens’ as if some invisible hand guides the process.  Everything aligns as if magically orchestrated.

Watercolor  by Lisa Brunetti –  With no pencil prep, I focused on one part of the flower then went straight to painting; the initials strokes of paint slowly evolved into the study of the Thunbergia flowers.

Othertimes a work of art requires preparation and homework, which starts as a spacial gathering of information and honing that data until clarity guides the artist forward.

The Muir quote has always fired my imagination, and I pictured trees frowning in disgust or wide-eyed with fear of being felled or even timidly hiding and peering from behind rocky facades. While pondering ways to illustrate the quote, I began seeking out and studying the twisted growth of mature guava trees – cousins to crepe myrtles – to merge the illusion of limbs and antlers.