February 24, 2012

A Walk in the Woods: The Texture of Time



There is an old sugarhouse at a turn of the path in the woods. Long unused, it sinks closer to the earth each year. When I first encountered this small building, its roof was upright; now it has collapsed. A few days ago the light catching on the edge of a lichen covered tree caught my attention as it contrasted strongly with the dark rich reds of rust.






What was once bright metal is now a patina of reds and greens and browns, only the small clamps retaining some of their original blue-gray hue. Years of weather have crumbled the wood, and its surfaces are lost under a blanket of moss and lichen.






The colors and forms seem less and less a product of human manufacture; as they decay they have taken on the character of the surrounding woods, richly colored and textured.


5 comments:

  1. I can almost hear the building calling out "I'm melting"... It appears to being tucked into the forest with a blanket of moss. Intersting shots.

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  2. There's such beauty in the details as the building ages and warps.

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  3. I'm glad you enjoyed seeing these images, Lisa and Kari.
    Lisa, I had to laugh as I saw and heard the Wicked Witch melting into the ground.

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  4. I can imagine these being transformed into your paintings.

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    1. Julie, for me the images are too much of nature, too textural, for my paintings, though the compositions are similar. I like to work with human-made machinery for its shapes and colors.

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