(WIP) Resurrection Moss, acrylic 48×60″
Resurrection moss is a type of plant that hibernates in times of stress, most often due to a lack of moisture. In Southern Utah it occurs in profusion on the red rock of the area, making the cliffs look ‘dirty’ in its dormant state. Then when it comes into contact with moisture, it blooms vividly and lushly within a matter of moments. The emerald green against the red rock is a verdant sight to behold.
My dearest and I spent our winter break hiking the area and witnessed several of these blooms as a result of an uncommon amount of precipitation. We had an astonishing and expansive time playing outside on the rocks and cliffs. I couldn’t wait to get back to my studio to try to paint what I was seeing and experiencing.
Except, Welp; life was right there on our return and while I’ve had a couple studio days in between Life Stuff, they somehow weren’t the days of inspired brush dipping I envisioned… nope not. I felt boxed in and dried up on the small canvases I already had going and the new ones felt tight and restrained. Where was the space and tone that we’d been living in and I’d rushed back to relay? Not here in these pieces…. ha ha
Before we left, I had my favourite art supply place deliver a very large canvas, planning to begin a focus work for my upcoming spring show. I thought I would begin once I got my flow back, after being away from the studio for a couple of weeks with a carefully planned composition and narrative. I rationalized that one shouldn’t be whimsical about big important works and kept labouring away on my poor overworked tighty whiteys; with an occasional longing look over my shoulder…
Then I remembered the owner laughing when I asked if he could deliver this ‘big’ canvas. “This is not a big canvas”, he said. He told me about a delivery he’d made which had required a calm day and many feet of strapping to prevent his van and canvas sail from going airborne as he drove it to a client near Lake Huron. And I realized I needed to make some space for the space, and some moisture for the growing to happen. Like the resurrection moss.
And so here I am at the bare beginning, the first layers, without a plan really. Whimsically and Intuitively beginning to put down the expansive experience as I witnessed it and carried it home in my soul. On a pretty big canvas. And We Will See, as my favourite guy says.
And also, now I am dreaming of truly big canvases.
Great.
Well, And a few days of studio flow…
Updated image, detail.
I wonder what will happen next…
