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January 23, 2012 / alice

.one small step for man. one giant leap for mankind.

we can all agree that nature provides us with some of the most incredible beauty we can ever hope to see. but driving on the highway looking at partitioned fields or the view  of the city while driving over a bridge…. the world turns into something else altogether. alluring, magnificent and awe inspiring. it’s in the melding of natural beauty and human design that has been influencing my art work lately. creating abstract neon colored paintings on paper of fields and their water sources.  i’ve also been experimenting with textiles. sketching on fabric and painting on silk to create the fluid feeling of water colliding with itself and everything it touches- man-made or not.  i cant help but find a sweet sadness in these all of these unnatural landscapes. wondering what it used to be like before me, before my ancestors; then wondering about the future of this planet.

here are some images I found of landscapes, my art work, as well as a photo I took from Twin Peaks in San Francisco, CA looking out over Market St.. You can see the small bright pink/red flare of the Castro Theater and the Bay Bridge stretching out over the bay into the lights of the Oakland Port.[slideshow]

being outdoors in the midst of nature, whether or not you’re in reach of civilization is undeniably an experience that just feels good.  the air, a sense of freedom, and knowing you are doing something good for yourself.  there is more and more  research showing how our bodies benefit from contact with the earth and the natural world. the idea that our bodies need to be in touch with the earth is founded in  human history. people spent most of their time outside in contact with the land. now most of us spend our time in doors, our feet on building  material on top of concrete foundations and looking at our reflections in artificial light.

companies sell “earthing products”, that mimic the benefits of being connected to the earth. i can identify with wanting the heath benefits of nature with ease and by just ordering a product available on the internet.  but, i’d rather experience the joy of being outside, like when i lived in Santa Cruz. my afternoons were about walking at the beach touching the sand and collecting the smell of the ocean in my nose and breathing it deep into my lungs. or spending no time at all getting to the redwoods and hiking just to sit in the old burned out stump of a tree. as i sit here wistfully thinking about those experiences i want to replicate them here in the Bay Area where i live, admittedly close to the woods that seem so far away,  to glean the health benefits of being outside. so, i want to propose to you readers to think about how much time are you spending outside? how does it feel for you to be in the fresh air knowing you are doing something good for yourself? how do you touch the earth?

2 Comments

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  1. Sam Coturri / Jan 23 2012 9:09 pm

    posting the aerial photos with your landscape paintings was a cool idea, the way vibrancy of the colors in the photos coincides with the colors in the paints is uncanny.

  2. Wendt / Jan 24 2012 4:05 am

    I always love the patterns of organized agriculture from an aerial view.
    I liked the way you reflected that feeling in your art work.

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