Field Guides to Art in Nature

As a child growing up in the vast expanse of the southwest, my house rested a top of a cliff. My mother would call out onto the sun-setting desert for us to come inside after a day of roaming acres of wild land. Nature held a huge amount of mystery as a child. Weather it was an afternoon spent staring at the clouds making up songs, building secret forts in abandoned trucks, or kicking fire ant hills; the outdoors occupied a major part of my youth.

I hold a distinct a memory of getting caught in a cholla cactus bush and limping the dirt road filled with tears and covered in thorns. I was only to be found the following day with my sister and neighbor girls back in the wild expanse to explore and create more imaginary worlds.

This curiosity of nature was further spurred by a book introduced to my childhood, “The Secret Garden" I longed to have the lush green English Garden where I could un-choke big green vines and nurse a secret garden and boy back to health. This being so far from my desert landscape I savored the books illustrations.

These memories always remained, but far away. This flood of remembrance was triggered the other day when I discovered a tiny book at Printed Matter entitled, “Field Guides to Art in Nature.” Artists Karen Wirth & Chad Rurrler created this limited edition book to go with an installation for Minneapolis, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

The book is broken in four chapters- Color, Form, Pattern, and Perspective. It is also illustrated in my favorite medium, collage. When I saw this tiny weather proof book I saw my dream visions on paper. While I still do not understand the extent of what these artists are getting at, I’m happy to share my connection and story.

Comments

[jessica]

i too loved that book. did you ever see the movie? it really brought the garden imagery to life. high vine covered walls, overgrown bushes and flowers galore. and the swing under the tree - just perfect.

thanks for sharing such a wonderful memory.