Snowmelt & Recharge Painting

This mixed-media painting is part of a series about aspects of the water cycle impacted by climate change. My work juxtaposes manmade geometry with organic natural forms. Each piece has a light and dark side and a bifurcation that references the disruption of a natural cycle by human activity. Each painting is literally made out of the landscape which it’s about. I use dyes and tannins from tree bark, leaves, and walnut husks; pigments from charcoal, mud, and vintage barbed wire; and wood salvaged from construction sites or wildfires. I capture plant forms using cyanotype chemistry, the same process used to make blueprints in the nineteenth century. To this bright blue foundation I add a second layer of botanical forms using a technique I discovered of making a primitive image by manipulating the wicking properties of certain dyes. Then I build up layers of natural toners, dyes and pigments, along with acrylic paint to achieve a more three-dimensional image. These subtle layers reveal themselves gradually with extended viewing. I try to create meditative works that beckon you to pause and reflect on the greater mysteries that underlie the natural world and our relationship to it. Mountain snowpack banks water and releases it gradually in the spring. This recharges streams and groundwater and provides plants with a reservoir of soil moisture for spring growth. As our winters warm, a larger share of precipitation falls as rain or melts and runs off more quickly, reducing spring recharge and contributing to a longer, drier fire season. This work breaks down into two panels and a wood plank for shipping. It is easily reassembled by fastening with two bolts. No tools required.