Hike Long Trails

Last weekend the kiwi guy and I went on a 5 1/2 hour, 16.5 km walk/hike/tramp through the hills in Wellington.

It was long and hard. 

It was also incredibly beautiful.

Inspiration is everywhere.

Inspired by the Colorado Rockies

Many artists use nature as the direct inspiration for their Artwork.  And for a while I had ideas that I would do that. 

Five years ago I made a declaration in a live workshop, in front of a big group of artists, that I was going to start making artwork inspired by my hiking in the Colorado mountains.

One impetus for this switch was the lack of challenge I was finding in my Structures series.  In 2014 I had created nearly 170 textile painting in the series and I was ready to move on.

Another reason for this switch was a desire to find a niche for my artwork.  With a narrow focus (artwork inspired by the Colorado Rocky Mountains) I could more easily find the people that would respond to my work and ultimately purchase it. 

I believed that marketing would be easier. Understanding my ideal collector (some that loved the Rocky Mountains) sounded a lot easier than figuring out who loved large abstract textile based artwork.

Plus I absolutely love hiking and spent most every weekend up in the mountains.  It was an authentic natural fit.

And then we know what happened – I moved to New Zealand 3 months later.  Goodbye Rocky Mountains.

Ha ha ha – so much for those plans!

Inspired by New Zealand

Shortly after impulsively deciding to move to New Zealand, I had a solo exhibition scheduled back in Colorado. I needed new artwork for this exhibition.

So I used my first few months in New Zealand to create the body of work for that show.

And it was indeed inspired by nature. 

I started with an abstract exploration of the horizon line.

I was quickly learning seeing forever was a necessity for my peace of mind. I was living in a claustrophobic valley where I could not see very far so I would make a daily walk up a hill so I could look out at the expansive view.

This first artwork was a comparison of the ability to see forever in Colorado vs New Zealand.

I didn’t use specific images or locations as a reference for these artworks. Instead they are abstractions of my impressions of seeing forever. The first 12 represent Colorado with the stunning blue sky and the mountain tops I use to hike. The final 12 represent New Zealand and looking out over the sea – sometimes gray, sometimes a cloud and on those lucky days – a beautiful blue. Although not quite as blue as the Colorado sky.

This is a photo from one of my last hikes to the top of a peak in Colorado. It gives you a sense for what I was thinking about.

I then switched to New Zealand as my inspiration and I created a polyptych with 5 panels of Cape Palliser.

These abstractions were based on photos from a trip I took out to Cape Palliser with the kiwi guy. We think of it as our first date. I took a vertical slice from some of the photos and then abstracted the composition and colors for my Landscape.

And of course, living in the Wellington area – Kapiti Island instantly became one of my favorites. And this was before I moved to Kapiti.

It’s easy to see how this artwork:

Was an abstraction of this photograph of the island. Again taking a vertical slice of the photo.

I like the idea of exploring the horizon line by taking a vertical slice of a landscape. It’s not the expected format for a landscape and I like how grouping several horizon lines together can create a more complex image.

This became my approach to landscape. Doing multi-panel compositions.

I was pleased with the exhibition in Denver and was pretty excited about doing more abstracted landscapes when I returned to New Zealand.

And Then What?

I made a three more abstracted landscape triptychs using vertical slices of the view.

This one captures the beauty of Kaikoura (an amazing area along the eastern shoreline of the South Island)

And these 2 are abstractions of walking along the coastline in New Zealand. Always being able to see the sea is such a novelty for me having spent most of my time in the arid landlocked southwestern United States.

And Then?

And then that was it.

I never got inspired or excited about making more. Instead I returned to pure abstraction.

As fabulous as landscapes are – they didn’t hold my attention very long.

I’m sure I will make more some day, just not today.

Partly because they aren’t the colors I want to use in my artwork.  Brown, blue, green.  Not a lot of options there. As you can see I started adding in more colors near the end and when I do more landscapes I suspect they won’t much match reality quite as closely.

Although I turned back to my previous style of working because making landscapes doesn’t result in the sense of satisfaction and mastery that making abstract work based on ideas (vs some real) brings me.

Are they easier to market? Maybe. They certainly have sold well. But sales is not why I make artwork.

What’s the Connection?

I still say I’m inspired by nature. In fact I’ve always said that. I have no doubt that our environment impacts all artists artwork in some way.

As I went on the long hike mentioned at the start of this post I started thinking about the connection between what I was seeing and my artwork. Was there one? What does it mean to be inspired by nature if I’m not in some way portraying the nature I’m seeing?

I’ll share my initial thoughts on those questions in my next blog post.

PS – A quick FYI – Once a year I hold a studio sale. This years will happen near the end of October and the remaining textile paintings in the Changing Perspective | Seeing Forever collection will be included.