–
I had a lovely time plein air painting at Chatfield Hollow State Park with two friends. The scene in front of us was idyllic and green, punctuated by stippled lily pads. The reflection was both amazing and constantly changing. Also the sounds and activity around us was joyous: kindergarteners were on a field trip here and were catching frogs. I reveled in their jubilation as much as the view before me. Check out in this post my idea of a fun day.
The painting– which almost ceases to be the point– is shown last below. To me plein air painting is about fusing all the sights and sounds and smells in an approximated image. I look at my painting from that day (done in pastel) and I smell again the pungent pine trees and the mud stirred up by many rubber boots…
–
Yesterday, Mary Oliver’s startling poem speaks of ” …green grass with its terror beneath…”
Today we read of a scene in front as ” idyllic. ” What occurs to me ,as I juxtapose the scenes, is that
what appears to us to be idyllic may be terrifying to other forms of life.