One of the pleasures of watching the seasons change and advance is how much difference a single day can make. This month, with heat and rain, the lawn grew five inches in the five days we spent out of town. In that time, iris bloomed and peonies became heavy with buds. Most of the bulbs in our formal gardens had flowered and faded, but along the creek a few days after we returned, drifts of wild phlox burst into view. They aren't true phlox and some consider them weeds, but I like their scent and color in the woods. Above them the trees were in full leaf, and the creek ran shallow and clear at the foot of an old mulberry tree just upstream and on the opposite bank. The white and muddy mauves of the wildflowers were complimented by yellow wild iris in the muddy shallows.
Every day of plus 90 degree heat and wet to moist soil bolstered growth but had the negative of hastening the maturity and seeding of flowering plants. So peony flowers lasted perhaps five days and iris flowers even less. When early May is cooler narcissi, iris and peonies are slower to flower and the blossoms last longer.
The
honeysuckle and wild rose undergrowth continued to thicken and the
woods became darker and gloomier at the feet of the big cottonwoods and
walnut trees. Our few ancient mulberry trees across the creek filled in
over the understory. I sketched the small watercolor to the right during
a respite from the May showers that made it feel steamy as South Carolina outside.
By
the end of the month the woods had become luxuriant and as thickly
grown as I've seen in more than thirty years along Druid Hill Creek. The
greens are nearly yellow where sunbeams penetrate. Trunks are pale
umber-brown, especially where shadows fall across in scimitars.
Sketching outdoors is comfortable until the no-seeums, gnats, flies, and
other biting critters come along. I quickly learned to use repellent
and not worry about details all that much as the bugs tried to carry me
away.
The past four months of sketching along the creek feel productive. I spent a good deal of time simply observing, trying to see what was happening out there along the creek banks. Not only did the project make me concentrate on how things look and change, it also became a near-daily ritual, sketching what I saw. In sum, a continuing project like this is an opportunity to grow wider artist's eyes. Working series on the same subject means closer attention and much much better understanding of whatever has drawn your eye. Monet understood.
The past four months of sketching along the creek feel productive. I spent a good deal of time simply observing, trying to see what was happening out there along the creek banks. Not only did the project make me concentrate on how things look and change, it also became a near-daily ritual, sketching what I saw. In sum, a continuing project like this is an opportunity to grow wider artist's eyes. Working series on the same subject means closer attention and much much better understanding of whatever has drawn your eye. Monet understood.
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