Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Balancing Truth... and Fantasy






















































































"One and all, we at some time fabricate a 'world of our own;' a world in which we are both creator and participant. Infants play happily with 'friends' unseen and unknown to anyone but themselves. Older children are able to weave highly descriptive tales, and delight in the intricacies of costume, character and plot. However, in only a few of us is the creative intimacy of these fabulous worlds kept alive, and nurtured, through the years that lead to adulthood.

To a select few is given the gift of recalling, revisiting and, thankfully reproducing their worlds of fantasy."

From the introduction by Leo John De Freitas
Arthur Rackham
British Illustrator
Edited by David Larkin


What a beautiful passage to encapsulate the core of most artists! We are without exception, members of a powerful fraternity of 'Peter Pans'... who refuse to relinquish their imaginary worlds and visions for the sake of gaining entry into the comfortable and 'taken- for granted' milieu of adulthood. How often have you been challenged and reminded sarcastically... "to grow up!" or to... "Act your age!"... from every corner of your life? We choose to live in harmony with each other , for the most part... and with an unusual and abiding respect for... and dependence upon the Natural World in which we dwell.

Recently, one of my Blogging Friends suggested that artists... including her Self... have larger than life egos and insatiable appetites for attention and notoriety. To some extent "I" could agree... if the use of the word ego corresponded to the dictionary meaning I found... that ego meant self-esteem. Then this would be so. Having the courage (out of a positive sense of Self) to create and display one's creations without fear of criticism or comparison is a positive attribute... that I only wish others could feel and practise in their lives.Obviously... like in other places of endeavour ... there are the others... but they are not from my own experience the average.

The Truth is that there is a distinct and radical difference between the term ego and egotist. An egotist is one whose elevated sense of self-esteem reflects only an interest in themselves and their less than realistic, or fair evaluation of their own self-importance. This being said... let's get back to Arthur Rackham.

I have singled out Rackham's work because so much of his illustrative mastery and oeuvre dedicates itself to less than Disney depictions of the his Faeries... or their magical kingdoms in which they dwell. The elves and sprites he creates are really... as De Freitas suggests "derivative of the bark and branches of the trees in which they live, and of the earth upon which they trod." Gnarled and exposed roots of massive beeches "are to be found in the long, knotted fingers of woodland imps." Beyond the forests of trees harboring these mythological peoples, "the trees themselves are often personified."

Perhaps it was this early introduction to the thought that Faeries and forests could be constructed... if only in one's mind that has caused "Me" to search out... record and trees and elements in the Natural World that support vision and extraordinary opportunities to let one's mind loose... the way that children do. I find it easy to find these "mind benders" - they seem everywhere... if one cares to "see."

I continue to collect old and out of print books about the great illustrators of the past. People like Rackham... Howard Pyle... NC Wyeth... Joseph Leyendecker... Everett Shinn... to name but a few. I was raised on their classic illustrations in classic literature from my earliest childhood reading experiences. Treasure Island...The Christmas Carol... Robinson Cruse... The Drum... Last of the Mohicans.... just to name a few I have in my collection.

The work of those brilliant illustrators provided a keyhole for "Me" to peer through... guiding "Me" to worlds which used art as a vehicle to transport "Me" beyond the blase and restricted world of a small community and limited school curriculum... into vast and limitless worlds of adventure.... fantasy... mystery... courage... and imagination.

As well... in my journey I have met a number of other kindred spirits who share my pleasure and my love for "things wooden." I have included some jpeg images to showcase their visions. I thank woodland hunter-gatherer Maia... for her wonderfully and meticulously beautifully crafted Forest Folk... my wood sculpting fellow artisan on the 7th Line Oro-Medonte for his forest filled with Woodland Spirits... which brighten my day on many an otherwise dreary winter day. They are but one of many kindred spirits who pass forward the love for our forest and tree legacy! Thank "You"...all!

The stump fences which profusely dot the rural landscape in our area and indeed across most of Ontario are the relics left by our settler forefathers. They were pulled and propped along property lines to mark land grants given by the Crown. They are natural sculptures... beautifully twisted... gnarled and weathered by hundreds of silent years of sleep along fence lines. I love to look at them... and realize the effort of the settlers... and the raw beauty of Nature's work.

This site is a forum to share ideas and discoveries in a non-critical fashion. It is meant to encourage sharing... positive discussion and to increase the awareness that the making of Art is a form of expression... deserving the same value as is placed by society... as reading or writing.

I truly hope that my "segway" journey devoted to Trees... encourages others to devote some time and energy to studying forests and trees. They are really often... still life... landscapes... portraits ... and sculpture... in their own right! And they live all around us... no matter where you live!
My last Tree post will show my own playful use of trees using what "I" call my intuitive style where reality and fantasy knit together to create opportunities for me to play... and work outside of the box... and my usually predictably dependency upon detail and what is in front of "Me". Stay tuned!

"I speak for the Trees!"... said the Lorax. And so have "I"!!!


Good Painting to all !

20 comments:

  1. Great post Bruce! Interesting. And I just love Rackham. Thank you for showing him. And as you know, I'm a big tree-hugger : )))

    ReplyDelete
  2. A very interesting and thought provoking post Bruce! You are introducing a new world of trees to me. I am struggling this week with my painting of trees it is a winter wonderland so white outside that I miss my variety of natural earthy tones. Strange how at times we look so earnestly for that special tree to paint and cannot find that tree anywhere. I finally worked on a picture I found in a book on Scotland as it felt important that I just paint anything! It looks like I will be very slowly finding my way along this path of painting trees during the year ahead. I feel compelled to do this work which is so different from my usual sky paintings. It all came about from me walking in the woods one day behind my home I suddenly stood there and wanted to capture their beauty and that was a year ago! funny to think how long it can take us to find a path way into the world of trees.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those photos are marvelous... the trees are grotesquely beautiful aren't they???

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Bruce,

    I love Arthur Rackham's work too. Some of my earliest experience of art must have been through his illustrations for books. His drawings are so deeply 'rooted' in natural forms that they seem entirely plausible. After seeing his work, and with an open mind, forests seem to full of his fantastic creatures.

    All the best,
    Keith

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, Bruce, great post today, wondeful photos and your words to go with them!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi there Kim!.... Thank "You" for checkin' in... and for the gracious comments!

    It has been my great pleasure to meet "You" via blogging and in person through our common activity at AyrSpace. I very much look forward to getting together... as time and opportunity allow... to paint en plein air!

    "We" certainly have different interests and directions... but the more we talk and share... the more we discover that those "differences" seem to melt away.

    "We" are kindred spirits for sure... bound by our passion for the things we love: Family ... Art... and the beautiful Eden that we are blessed to share!

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

    PS HI to Harry!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello Scotland!... Thank "You" ever so much for your thoughtful response and sharing Caroline!

    How warm it makes "Me" feel to know firsthand... that "I" can provoke people in a positive way. For so very long... "I" often (mis) used my energy and words to provoke people in negative ways. It is reassuring and encouraging to discover that "I" can share energy... by simply... allowing my ideas to waft out into the blogging world... for "Others" to digest ... and decide how to use them... or no!

    Trees and "I" have always shared a truly "symbiotic" relationship. I have planted and pruned on tree farms in my early years... sketched... painted... and slept under them all through my life.

    "I" feel a deep sense of loss when "I" see one of my old gnarled friends fall... either naturally... or more likely... under the deliberate and uncaring hand of man.

    To "Me"... that act runs parallel to the way we "warehouse" our elderly... in their most vulnerable and needy time. No further use... out of sight... out of mind.

    I run on at the mouth perhaps Caroline... but if one listened in the woods... there is so much wisdom to be gained... so much Peace to be gained... so much wonderful woodwind music ... to be heard!

    But that's just "Me"... and...
    I"I speakl for the Trees!"

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi there Stone Post!... Good to hear from "You" again!

    Glad that you enjoyed the post and that it stimulated you in some way! That's the purpose of this forum!

    Those magnificent... ancient West Coastal firs leave one in awe when you visit them. The "gathering" has been very appropriately named... Cathedral Grove. It has just that effect! I have stood in a good many cathedrals across Italy, Germany and the British Isles. These man made architectural reliquaries have absolutely nothing over the magnificence of these wooden survivors. They are the ultimate... soaring tributes to the Creator Himself!!!

    Good Painting... and Good Health!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi there Marian!... Thanks for your comments!

    Gnarled and grotesque they may be... but there is a beauty in things aged by time.
    Michaelangelo thought so too... spending so much time sketching the faces of grotesque individuals that he met in red chalk.

    I love seeing the weathering effects caused by aging... in forms natural and human alike. There is character and a sense of time's passage revealed in the faces of the elderly.

    Just my own thoughts!

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Keith!... Thanks so much for commenting and adding your own thoughts to mine!

    Strange! The more we chat... the more we discover how much we are alike in our thoughts... our reverence for many similar things... and in certain passages of our separate... but strangely similar journeys!

    I very much look forward to our meeting in the future... even sharing some time painting and trekking together. When I get back to Scotland... and I shall... I will most certainly get in touch with you!

    Sorry it wasn't possible the last time,due to Allison's graduation, but we can work on that!

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Bruce,
    I just love reading your blog. Thanks for sharing those wonderful photos and intriguing words!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hello... to the Shenandoah Gal!... Thanks for your visit and for your gracious comment!

    Enjoyed my first visit to your wonderful site! Great coloured landscape drawings there!

    Blogs form a wonderful conduit for sharing ideas and process with other diastant artists who share the same path and passion for creating art! Talking and words can be... a form of encouragement and even therapy!

    Your visit certainly lifted my spirits!
    Do visit again!

    Good painting/Drawing!
    Warmest regards,
    bruce

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Bruce,

    Great photos of trees. At Brookwood Hall by the lake, there is an old tree. One of my friends who also paints plein air called it the Love Tree. There have been many couples who have done the usual heart carving with a message of love.
    I share your love of nature and especially trees. I am on a new quest if time permits, simply to paint and draw trees.
    Once again Bruce, you have inspired me.
    All the best to you
    JOan

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi there Joan!... We share a great many things in our separate... but in some ways the same journeys!

    In one of my posts not so very long ago, I included a jpeg of my own version of that "Love Tree" that "You" have mentioned here. Mine is a grand old American Beech... must be at least a hundred and fifty years old... "scarred by love" many times over.

    Glad to know that my writing and work gives "You" food for thought Joan. Continue to paint what "You" love Joan... that's a quest in itself!

    Hope that your "One Woman Solo Show" goes well for you! Sure looks great!Framing is wonderful as well... really compliments your wonderful landscapes!

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Bruce,

    I too love the illustrators. I have recently visited the Brandywine Museum in Chadds Ford, Pa. where it focuses on the Wyeth family. I love NC Wyeth's work. What an imagination in portraying a story! That day was one of the best days I had at a museum. I remember as a young reader being so interested in the illustrations and I have vivid memories of having a book with Rackham's illustrations.

    A wonderful tribute to trees Bruce and rightly so! I am happy that I can take the beauty of trees "in".

    Another great post Bruce,

    Sue

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi there Sue!.... Thanks for dropping by!

    Chadd's Ford and the Brandywine area in general... are on my own personal "bucket list". All of the Wyeths were/are interesting to "Me". I have read every book I could get my hands on about them. They somehow feel like family!

    Glad that "You" enjoyed the focus on trees Sue!Anyone can enjoy them... and learn so much about life... and living from "Them"!Stay tuned for more in the future!

    Great sketchin' material as well... they never move! HAHA!!

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

    ReplyDelete
  17. As a youngster the saying "can't see the forest for the trees" always confused me because even then I would purposely gaze at every tree and wonder at there individual beauty and couldn't get the derogatory connotation of the saying. My paintings then (watercolour) were always piece after piece of trees, trees and more trees. Usually large elms and maples which were quite plentiful in the farm country on the northern outskirts of Toronto. Funny, these many years later how little has changed in that I seldom produce a painting that doesn't have trees in it! =:-/

    Jeffrey

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi Jeffrey!.... That old adage that "You" quote... caused the same consternation in "Me"... in my own youth as well!

    The real truth unfortunately, my Friend... is that the Truth in that old adage is real! Forests are being felled and depleted... tree by precious tree... in every part of the world.... every second of every day!

    Those that aren't consumed for domestic use and cosumption... are being sold by our own government to be harvested by foreign corporate interests... and shipped out of this country.

    We humans never seem to learn from our predessors and their tragic decisions and mistaken arrogance. History tells us that in Europe and elsewhere... large cities and their popoulations were dependent upon wood for heat and fuel.

    By the end of the late 17th Century... wood bearers physically transported wood from hundreds of miles distant to satify the insatiable fires in these inhospitable winter population zones.

    Two hundred years later... we continue to tap this resource dry and and fossil fuels to the rapidly diminishing list of energy alternatives.

    We willingly... but unwittingly entertain alternative sources such as nuclear and hydro-electric sources... despite the proven negative effects and possibilities for disaster that they bring along with them.
    Remember Chernobyl? Lest we forget!... Yet another favourite adage!

    Another "Tree" adage comes to mind at this point in this (already too long) "rant" Jeffrey:

    "The acorn doen't fall far from the tree."

    Ain't that the sad Truth? Enough said!

    Thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts and ideas... which again run "parallel"... to my own!

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

    ReplyDelete
  19. Along those lines Bruce if you haven't already I recommend you read the book 'The Golden Spruce' by John Vaillant. It should be part of all schools cirriculums!

    Jeffrey

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thank "You" Jeffrey... I haunt the children's section when we spend our regular family evening outing to Chapters. I will seek out "The Golden Spruce" for certain.

    Thank "You" ever so much... for "planting the seed"! HAHA!! I'll get back to you with the results of my sortie!

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

    ReplyDelete