Inspiration

We lost our internet connection for most of yesterday, so my sincere intention to post was thwarted. But this delay gave me another opportunity to take in the amazing wildflower display along Interstate 89. The purple-blue (what IS that color?) of the lupine mixed with pure white daisies is just spectacular.....I'm inspired every time I drive by and I wonder who decides to plant these random magic gardens and I also wonder how many motorists notice and if it makes them smile too.

So many gifts of nature grab my attention. Sometimes I have my camera at hand so I can take a snapshot but this is mostly when I am a tourist. When visiting my daughter a few weeks ago, I fell in love with some wonderful old trees in the Hill Country outside Austin.


The root system was fantastic and it reminded me so much of the ancient trees outside of Siem Reap, Cambodia that I saw in December.


I want to somehow incorporate into some piece of art the fascinating patterns made by the intersecting roots, the wonderful color and texture of the worn wood, and the emotional response I experienced when seeing these trees, so different to the maples, pines, and oaks in our area. I wonder when that might happen and how some of those qualities will come out in a painting or perhaps a 3 dimensional piece. I feel that all these kinds of visual experiences, the roadside lupines or the ethereal trees, will somehow find their way into my art. It won't be today or tomorrow or maybe even this year, but they are stored in my memory and will have their time.

Barbara Bartlett