This week’s post is another colored pencil drawing. I started with the intention of doing an abstract piece, somewhat like Tunnels. Once I made the sketch and started coloring in the red/orange/yellow shapes, however, I saw a picture, so I ran with it.
I think the reason I saw a spider web was this photo, which was taken in the Fakahatchee Strand State Park in southern Florida last April:
I’d gotten up early to start down a dirt road called Jane’s Scenic Road, and the plants were heavy with dew. I was startled to see thousands of spider webs everywhere. I had been completely unaware of their existence when I’d driven there the day before at mid-day. It was as if the dew had revealed an invisible message on a seemingly blank page, and I was fascinated. Sure, I’ve seen a web or two in the early morning before, but these fields were full of them. There must have been a web every five to six feet.
While I worked on the piece, I kept hearing the first lines of the Bruce Cockburn song “Wondering Where the Lions Are.” It begins:
Sun’s up, mmm-hmmm, looks okay
The world survives into another day
And I’m thinking about eternety
Some kind of ecstacy got a hold on me
I often find that my work is either inspired by music, or working on a piece inspires me to hear music. I think that’s one of the reasons why I like creating art, actually. It engages so many facets of my experience. When I look at other people’s art, I often wonder about the subject, and the story behind the image. There is always a story.
