My partner and I spent the last week camping (glamping, really, in our Airstream) at the Yuba River. The sound of rushing water formed a constant backdrop. I could feel it washing away my cares and worries. It was also incredibly beautiful—which triggered my desire to capture that beauty, somehow, in paint. So I dusted off my old plein aire easel and gave it a shot. It's been a decade since I painted outdoors. I sure missed it.
Quick oil "sketch" of the river
It turned out that my recent book club assignment—“Is a River Alive?” by Robert MacFarlane—was perfect reading for the trip. Every night in front of the fire, on the edge of the racing water, I read about rivers around the world. The book is partly about the growing “Rights of Nature” movement, which strives to create legislation that “recognize[s] the lives, rights and voices of rivers, mountains and forests,” spearheaded by Indigenous communities and environmentalists, and driven mostly by women. The book is also about rivers’ diverse ecosystems. MacFarlane paints them as living beings, even using the pronoun “who” instead of “it.” Each river he described became a fully developed character.
The living, flowing, musical river became my Muse for the week.
A sketch of the view from our campsite.
I read about deep-mapping of river movements through time and how the patterns resemble veins—and another piece of my next series fell into place. The thought of changing our paradigm about the legal rights of Nature inspired me to think of how my work might fit into a larger picture.
As I floated down the rapids in my inner tube, I stared up at the trees and let the water take me.
That’s how my Muse works: by drawing from the books I read, the experiences I have, random phrases I hear. They all weave together to create the work as I go.
I’m just along for the ride.
Art Heals
It's hard to find much online about Ruth Weisberg. I first saw her work in the '90s at Jack Rutberg Fine Art in Los Angeles (when it was on La Brea Ave). Her images of women floating in water struck me so deeply. Much of her work bridges the personal and the political, the present and past, and always with mastery of her medium. She often creates in series, which I also like to do.
She's become very successful since those early days. But she remains humble and grateful.
"Art at its core is an affirmation of the very best of our collective past and our humanity." --Ruth Weisberg
"Separating the Waters III" by Ruth Weisberg, monotype, 1996
