Happiness is a car packed for camping

Nature objects collected

With spending so much time at home, I've noticed the collections of natural objects I've amassed over the years. I have a dishes of sea items and jars of woodsy things. I love to go on nature walks whenever possible and seem to regularly fill my pockets with fallen leaf bark and empty seed pods. I also take photos of trees and moss routinely. I grew up in the city and as a child I always found the trips to the beach and woods extra special and magical. I think my photographing and collecting small pieces of natural debris and the rare sea glass was a way to hold on to those moments and keep the wonder of it all.

Page from sketchbook

Drawing is another way of capturing wonder, but I think it also lets me go deeper with my understanding of the object, my relationship to it, and meaning in the world. The artist Henry Moore said, " Discipline in art is a fundamental struggle to understand oneself, as much as to understand what one is drawing."

So I am venturing into this new territory of blogging to discipline myself to see, create, and record my understandings. Thanks for coming along this journey with me! -April Silbert

watercolor of shell