I say new, it isn’t really, I have just had the mental space to sit down and really consider the why’s and the where to’s of my artwork, and what the connecting thread is. Obvious, once you see it.
Anyhow, the botanical touches in this calendar series are a reminder that the beauty and seasons of nature can still touch us in our daily lives. Completing the series is a continuation of my study of ‘the cycles of nature and our connection to it’.
How Did It All Become Clear?
One evening in October I sat quietly on my son’s bed, his head in my lap, stroking his hair in the dark. We do this every night and it’s often the first chance we get to slow down after a busy day. This particular evening I sat and reflected on where I was with my art, where this year had taken me and where I wanted to go with it next year. I was taking a breather after assembling my exhibition for Dutch Design Week, and had already checked off most of my ‘to do’ list for this year.
I realised the chosen theme for our joint exhibition, a sort of ‘catch-all’ each of us was already using as a creative, was a thread I have always had running through my artwork for a long time. The theme ‘Nature Human Nature; exploring the state of our connection to nature as the organic beings we are’ is not exceptionally unusual but one I’m sure many creatives can relate to.
Nature is Magical, but…
Why would anyone want to hear that coming from me? Everyone knows the natural world is wondrous and important, so how am I sharing it in a meaningful way with people? What in particular about the natural world draws me in so I can draw it out?
My connection to nature was so obvious once I looked again at my work, and the theme for the exhibition.
It’s the cycles! The renewal of the seasons and cycles of nature that return and plough on even when shaken and disrupted by us. Just look at some of the works I’ve made in the last couple of years that physically use a ‘cycles/circles of nature’ theme~
My work is a celebration of how grounded the rhythms of nature keep me, even when I’m living in a box apartment that vibrates with the superficial airco of the supermarket below. The symbols in my images are often widely acknowledged cultural representations of the seasons, a testament to the unity with nature many of us rejoice in throughout the years of our lives. The hopeful fresh tones of Spring, the bountiful blooms of Summer, the chilling angularities of Winter: I want to capture and honour it all. I want to portray the marks it makes on our psyches.
My brain has clearly been crying out for me to connect to nature in my current urban setting. I love people but I’m a nature lover and country girl at heart. I miss walks in the woods and fields, and will rekindle that feeling every way I can. What better way than capturing that magical awe and sharing it with others through my artwork? I hope you can feel the energy and feeling of ‘completeness’ that being able to portray it gives me. I just needed to slow down and pause to catch up with myself again.
Folklore, semiotics and cultural references to nature have long been a part of my work, but now I know I need to delve even deeper to grasp hold of that golden connecting thread running through my artmaking journey. If I’m lucky that thread will pass on beyond my reach to be grasped by others who feel the same connection. Others who find my artwork celebrates their own grounding connection to the natural world, that honours their own seasons.
Onwards!
Laura
Laura Carter Illustration 