Abstractify: week four

As week three of my course, ended up being a mega post - I'm going to break up week four, a little more.

The first exercise, was trying to capture the essence, of an aspect in nature. In this case, a tree - and finding different ways to express what a tree is, or how it can be experienced. It was really just left up to your imagination, how you would approach the subject matter.

I opted to use my own image, from our property, than the one supplied. Mostly, because I loved the "dwarfed" feeling, it created, by standing underneath.

Loved the concept! But (once again) it proved to cause another stumbling block, because of "attachment" issues. Thus, I tried to recreate the image, rather than drawing from my imagination.

I started the trunk, with newspaper collage, but ended up covering most of it! Not to worry.

I thought the composition, created a lovely, weightless feeling at first, but I had to try "pushing" it, that little bit further...
 

I wanted to add more weight to the bottom, by adding some under-story plants. Effectively though, I made it look more cluttered. But what I'm learning with each exercise, is not to become "precious" about my creations. If I'm not prepared to risk ruining them, then I'm not prepared to learn what IS possible.

While I may not effectively capture the essence of the exercise (at first) I'm still practicing. Which can only make me more familiar with my process, and how to change it! I like these "failures" (to me) for learning. So they're not wasted efforts at all.

Once the course wraps up (start of next week) and I have more time, I will try new ways to explore trees again. I'm looking forward to that, because our five acres, has so many of them!!