Texture in the Wild

We spent much of the week on the Olympic Peninsula, walking in the (temperate) rainforest, witnessing the moon over Lake Quinault, and probing the wildlife on Beach 4 at low tide. How grand it felt to be so small in the world.

The trails around Lake Quinault offered old-growth Douglas firs, hemlocks, Sitka spruce, and cedar trees. The hanging curtains of moss gave the forest its ancient feel. To my delight, my identification skills were intact. I recognized native plants like salal, wild huckleberries, ferns, and trillium. The vines with the exploding pods, however, stumped me.

Textures were everywhere in the rainforest—

And everywhere along the Peninsula's stunning coastline.

On this visit, Kalaloch Beach 4's tide pools and rocks teemed with barnacles, sea anemones, crabs, mussels, and sea stars. But the beach suggested much more than textures. Tiny passages revealed entire landscapes: A spread of sand and shells became whales breaching in the ocean, and a bed of barnacles an otherworldly forest.

And the creatures!  Over there — the smiling mouth monster with a hundred teeth. And there — what is that buck-toothed thing with eyes and brains on the outside of its head?   

With a squint, the tidal colonies were pure patterns of dark and light. They inspired ways to prepare a canvas. 

Color also punctuated the experience of the Peninsula's landscapes.

The vibrant greens provide the first impression of the rainforest, but the greys and desaturated colors draw me in.

My art kit was minimal for this trip—compressed charcoal and beautifully thin paper left at home. Could I make rubbings on the barnacles, driftwood, and rocks anyway? The camera collected the textures well enough.

The gathered photos, like drawings in a sketchbook, will serve as reference—starting points for designing the contours of a landscape, expressions of a portrait, and connections in a still life.