Van Gogh.

“It isn’t the language of painters so much as the language of nature that one should heed.”

I’ve been carrying this quote around for years as a reminder of where our inspiration as artists comes from. And not just inspiration, but also instruction. The language of nature, and how to hear it, heed it.

Here. We. Go.

So – here’s where I explain why I’m starting this blog, and what I hope it will be. Here’s the vision: a confluence of artists – writers, painters, musicians, sculptors, dancers, poets, quilters – whose themes, inspirations, concerns, and deep bedrock sources and grounding come from the natural world. Everything I write has as its inspiration the wild, chaotic, mysterious, and wondrous natural world. And the more I get to know other artists, the more I see how that’s true for so many of us. Here’s a place, then, for the conversation about this intersection between the creative spark within us and the inspiring world outside us. How does it manifest? How does it inform us? And now faced with environmental degradation at every turn, this threat to the very font of our inspiration, what then do we do? How does this shape our art? Big questions, but I’ve a running list of lots of amazing artists and groups who tackle these questions, whether or not they do so consciously. Let the conversation begin.