After suffering through some of the hottest weather of the year last week, all of a sudden we had a big temperature drop. I guess it kind of perked me up a bit. I managed to paint this view in between downpours. Every once in a while a deer or two would scamper across the distant field.
Here’s my setup:
From there I drove over to Farrell Road and turned south. This is an area of many cherry and apple orchards and they’re looking rather glum this time of the year. Still, there was something I found quite interesting in this view. Years ago I’d gone to Peru several times to study with the shamans in the jungle. Our group had been given a hallucinogenic cactus – San Pedro — and we had the most interesting insights about things. At one point I became an orange on a tree in the jungle. I could feel the temperature changes whenever the leaves would move above me, shading the sunlight. I could feel insects crawling across my skin. Then I remember becoming a mushroom, pushing up through the forest floor, opening up, spreading my gills, among the trees. It was quite amazing! These experiences made me realize that trees (and plants) are sentient beings. So when I saw this cherry orchard, although it seemed sad, all leafless and bleak, it also seemed very brave and stoic to me. Of course I had to paint it! I think it’s important to paint things that strike an emotional feel to them, even if few other people like the view.
And here’s my setup:
Margie Guyot Art 