I asked Botanical Painter and Fierce Environmental Activist, Dana Boyle, to talk about our current collaboration: “When Catherine Dalton reached out with an invitation to participate as an illustrator in this innovative collaboration, I thought it sounded intriguing and knew it would inspire me to broaden my collection of native plant paintings. I also was a big fan of Catherine’s choral compositions and believed in her ability to pull off a unique and important production.
As the project took shape, I was introduced to other amazing women, and love how we’ve come together to share our unique areas of interest and learn from one another. Our initial meetings were to go on plant walks and decide which plant relatives would be the focus of the stories and music. We chose plants based on their powerful medicine more so than their visual attraction, which is why Stinging Nettles made it into the project and why the real focus of the wild rose plant – for us – is on the rose hips, rather than the pretty pink blossoms. The other plants we chose were Black Elderberry, Stiff-Leafed Goldenrod and Common Milkweed. I felt honored to have the task of visually depicting these special plants.
When people ask about the process of creating a botanical painting, the next step after choosing the subject is to build a composition which will not only look pleasing to the eye but also highlights important features of each plant – not just the “main attraction.” The process of going from species selection to painting involves studying many individual subjects in their natural habitat, looking for one plant that typifies the species and that will work well on the page. That may necessitate repeat visits to settle on just the right moment of the plant’s life. It may also be that you select one main plant and then find a leaf or seed pod or cluster of berries from another. I take dozens and dozens of photos, since that’s what I work from in my studio. To honor each plant I’ve chosen to paint, I speak to it and usually leave a strand of my own hair as a gift of gratitude.
Once I return home, I start sketching and mocking up the composition. My materials include 16” x 20” 300 lb. hot-press watercolor paper made in Italy by Fabriano (established in 1264), as well as special watercolor paints. Once the composition is set, I transfer my final sketch to the paper, resulting in a light line-drawing in graphite. Then, the paints come out. I learned the technique of the English dry-brush painting at the Minnesota School of Botanical Art. This style, as opposed to a looser, more impressionistic one, allows for fine detail – ideal for a more scientifically accurate botanical image. Using this technique, I first lay down many sheer layers of watercolor “washes,” and slowly reduce the amount of water on the brush. Each of the paintings for the Converging Consciousness project took over a month. Because the process is slow, I find it both meditative and fascinating as I explore every aspect of the plant – from the way the leaves attach to the stems, to the way the berries and rose hips reflect light and the way the leaves pucker and fold. The more you look, the more colors you see, giving you opportunities to create rich layers that the eye will see as more realistic. As a side note, my work on the project has taken a full year and I’m relieved that we settled on five beautiful subjects rather than the 20 or 25 we’d first considered.
Even in the dead of winter, I was able to conjure our time out in the fields during the previous growing season, as I painted in my kitchen studio. That didn’t stop us from continuing to visit the sites where our plants grew or lay dormant. Not only did we want to better understand their growing habits and seasonal changes; we also wanted to show respect to the plants no matter whether they were blooming or withering as they went through fall and winter. Every time we visited the plants, we offered thanks. These rituals, taught to us by our collaborator Tara, slowly opened us to a deeper understanding of our connection to the plant world and helped us realize that we are truly one interdependent community. As a non-Native person, I initially struggled with the invitation to call them our “plant relatives.” It felt like I was trying to appropriate the Native culture; however, after repeated encouragement by several Native American plant medicine folks, I’m slowly getting over that concern because “we should all see them as our plant relatives.” For sure, when I am outside by myself, I now greet them as relatives or friends.
In that spirit of reverence and appreciation, I believe it is not just enough to enjoy nature, but it is incumbent on those of us who are able to act in order to help restore habitat and protect our water, soil and air. In addition to participating in grass roots environmental advocacy at the federal, state and local level, one personal action I have taken is to “rewild” my suburban yard, creating an oasis of native plants within a design framework that suits my neighborhood. It is essentially a demonstration plot to show others what works well in our area. Not only is it visually appealing to people, it hums with pollinator and bird activity and requires zero chemicals and very little water. Participating in this way is a step toward changing our culture, which is what I believe it will take for people to willingly embrace change.
The Converging Consciousness project, to me, represents a full circle where storytelling, visual arts and original music work together to inspire a culture of openness – openness to appreciate the wisdom of Native American Indians when it comes to our relationship with Mother Earth, to find peace in the beauty and power of plants, to change our values around land stewardship and, by our reverence, to take meaningful action.”
Thank you, Dana <3
Find out more about Converging Consciousness: A Plant & Human Co-Creation
Read Catherine’s Blog about listening!