Rainbow Leaf Stripe Amongst the Buttercups

Rainbow Leaf Stripe Amongst the Buttercups, originally uploaded by e s c h e r.

With this sculpture I have finally joined up the circle. I started on a path a few years ago where I began to investigate the colours of Autumn. I made this from cherry leaves and was astounded at the different colours that were there. They were not all obvious at first and by making something where the colours faded - one into another - I had to spend time with those trees and study their leaves to discover all the colours that they could produce. I have made more sculptures over subsequent Autumn seasons and I found that that range of colours is not always available, different seasons bring different factors that affect the colours and I discovered that sometimes the full range is only there for a day or two.

This season has been the first time I have tried a similar voyage of discovery to reveal the colours of Spring. In some ways this has been an even more suprising, inspiring and fruitful journey and I have been amazed to find quite how many colours there are to be found in leaves. In fact this Spring has been comparable with a really good autumn in the variety of colours present, the only difference being the quantity of coloured leaves to be found. What has staggered me the most though is how I have missed the colours before. Sure I must have seen them in the past but their presence fleetingly glanced off my consciousness without making much of an impression.

It is only during the last few days that I have finally found the full range of colours I would expect in fall and realised that they were there all the time. Yellows, reds and greens have been present in abundance but the oranges and in-between hues were harder to find. But through the process of making the leaf series I have been constructing recently I have gradually reached the point where I now know that all the colours of Autumn are present in Spring too for those that care to look.

This is what land art is all about. Immerse yourself in nature to open your eyes to the world. Discover that we are often distracted and unable to see what is all around us. Know that there is joy to be found in the structure of a leaf, the colours all around us, new growth, new life. With each new discovery a veil is lifted and it is possible to see more clearly. I hope that I bring some of this to you too.

But with each new insight there is the promise of more. There is so much more to see that I cannot see now, I am convinced of that. And again I will be surprised as to how blind I have been as I peel back another layer. Next Spring I will find out more about this one as I learn the difference between one season and the next. Will all those colours be there again? Will there be more? Did our cold Winter mean that this Spring was more colourful than before? There are many revelations yet to be had I am sure.

Ps. I haven't started drinking yet. I talk this much rubbish when I am sober. To the barbie mobile!

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