Out in Nature... Gathering Imagery

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Input before output... I am home this week with my kids. Visits to Grandparents are over, Camps have ended, and all the big trips of summer are behind us... but yesterday, I took the boys on a "Staycation" one night camping trip right in our very own Mt. Tamalpais State Park. One of my favorite places to camp locally is Steep Ravine Environmental Campsites, right on the coast, just down from Stinson Beach. The boys and I did it! We arrived at 3pm, set up a tent by ourselves, hiked all our gear into the campsite, and then went out to the coast to explore for the day. It was wonderful, and as the sun was setting, we watched nearby campers on their bikes, riding down into the campsite. I grabbed my camera and snapped a few photos for reference for my next paintings. View photos from our trip on Flickr.

Photo: Cyclist Descending Steep Ravine, by "Shark Fin" Rock(that's what we call it)

You have to get out for input... One of my favorite children's stories is "Frederick", by Leo Lionni. My mom used to read this to me as a child. Frederick was a mouse who didn't help the others gather food much for winter. Instead, he sat staring into the sunset, and looking at the leaves and colors of nature. In the winter, after all the food was gone, and the mice were sitting in their home, bored with nothing to do until Spring, Frederick began telling tales of life, the colors of nature... He was a poet, and he made all the others happy by bringing the colors of life into the darkest times. I think of Frederick when I am out gathering my images for painting. I hope that my images bring happiness and joy to those who end up with them.