Summer - The Season To Gather and to Sketch/Paint What's Harvested; Foundation Pieces for Fall/Winter's Large Artworks

 

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Detail from my recent watercoloring painting, Six Big Leaf Maple Seed Portraits.

I have spent much of my summer sketching and then watercolor painting Maple tree samaras, those winged-seeds we often call helicopters. Yet, I have gathered and harvested a diverse collection of seeds, pods and flowers. My freezer is filled with them. 

The photo below of the plate in my freezer was taken in late June. There are so many more seeds and pods in my freezer now. That is because of the vast diversity of flora here. It is so visually inviting. Too, I am learning how to preserve seeds, without mold or rot, for long periods so as to be used for art studies. When I have gained that knowledge, no more seeds, pods or more will be housed in my freezer, hopefully. 

Let's go back to the image at the top of the page. The samaras of a Big Leaf Maple tree are twice the size of those of the Norway Maple tree that I first sketched and painted. See the visual comparison between the two in the photos below. 

 

Above: Norway Maple Tree Samara.

Above: The samaras of a Big Leaf Maple tree are truly the size of, 

and resemble, a large moth. 

When I look at the various sizes and colors of Maple seedlings, I am in awe, truly. Painting them not once but twice, and then more, gives me insight into their design and then the ability to shift that design into layout plans for larger artworks to be done over the Fall and Winter. 

Above: My first painting of Maple tree samaras. These are Norway Maple seedlings. 

Above: My recent watercolor painting, Six Big Leaf Maple Seed Portraits.

The artworks done over the Fall and Winter will also shift from duplicating the shape and the elements of the seedlings to more abstract or surreal representations of them. 

My earlier paintings, before moving out of Alaska, included ones with a windowpane design / layout. Below is a photo of one of those works:

Puzzle by Susan Slocum Dyer ©

I have been visualizing how to grid my paintings of samaras. I use a layout grid on my computer for creating mathematical arrays for my window paintings. This is the only computer assistance I use for my artwork. With Puzzle, it was a simple array of 5 X 4.  I recently created a 2x2 array, or grid, using photos of both of my samaras paintings. See photo below:

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My first thought regarding the photo above was, "That looks interesting, but I want something more." The question I had to ask myself was, "What was that more?" To figure that out, I went for a long walk down neighborhood sidewalks littered with helicopters of all shapes, colors and sizes. I even witnessed a few fall from a low hanging branch right in front of me. This movement was what I wanted to somehow visually reference in my work. I returned home and to the layout grid. 

I decided that maybe what I wanted to paint would be an irregular grid. One that pivoted from the single array/grid to multiple ones framing and designing the layout of the work. This is what I came up with: 

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What I like about the image above is how the large samaras in the bottom frame do look, to a small degree, like they are falling. I also like the variety of sizes of the samaras in this image. I will most likely paint this, with some variations. Yet, not first. 

I still wanted the work to be more abstract, more suggestive than scientific or specifically botanical. Again, I returned to my computer's layout grid. I played around until I found what I think will challenge me as a painter to create, is more suggestive of movement that echoes that of the samaras falling from Maple tree limbs, and is more aligned with my earlier work. See photo below:

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I really favor this image. 

Is it the repeating image fragments that makes me see movement within it? 

Before I sit down and paint this work, I want to sketch/paint one more artwork of Maple tree samaras. This single work will have both Norway and Big Leaf samaras in it. I will then upload it with the two others and re-create this 6x2 array / grid with those images, or remove one, to determine the final piece. I will use it as a guide to paint from while allowing for creative editing. The chief goals are creating a work which suggests movement, that movement, and beauty, engages the viewer, and the work extends my portfolio of pieces.

Yet, there are paintings of other seedlings, pods and flowers to be done. I have also gathered a dozen or more dried persimmon flowers while out walking in my neighborhood.  See photo below: 

 Above: Persimmon flowers I gathered from a neighbor's lawn (permission was given).

Above: This Google image helps you to see where the flowers are on a persimmon.

These will be first sketched and watercolor painted like the Maple tree samaras. They will be repainted later within a windowpane painting of seaweed and permissions both under the wave of the sea. I can see it all so clearly in my mind, but first the Maple tree samaras painting(s). Here is that image again:

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