Serpent on Birchbark
“Serpent”, gouache painting on birchbark © 2002 D. Yael Bernhard
Every now and then I create an image that's inspired by the surface it's painted on. It feels more like the image creates itself, in response to the color or texture that gives rise to it. My job is to follow the lead – in this case, the rich tones of birchbark, with its subtle variations and grainy texture that receives paint so beautifully. One must allow such a pleasing, organic surface to show through – better yet, the painting should be designed to show it off. The shape and size of the surface – a small vertical rectangle – also determined the design.
Working within these parameters, a geometric subject was a good choice. It could be a mask, a mythical bird, a spiral design – but I chose a snake. My little serpent friend quickly grew wings that branched out from each of its curves, which then changed into patterns that knit the creature to the background in a herringbone-like way. A restricted palette was enough to evoke just a touch of color contrast, and to keep the whole thing simple.
Thinking back to my younger self, I remember I had Australian aboriginal art on my mind at the time, and wanted to experiment with repeating patterns of concentric lines and shapes. The moving animal figure embedded in a universe of energetic patterns is typical of aboriginal art. The concept of reality as a mesh-fabric also arises from Hindu mythology, which also deeply influenced my earlier work. The whole painting was an exercise in immersion, an effort to internalize these influences. All the seams are showing in my visual experiment.
What a pleasure, to paint on a surface of glowing earth tones! There's nothing like birchbark, smooth and fine, with its inner surface like burnished cinnamon. I understood then what compelled our ancestors – the cave painters of prehistoric Europe, the rock painters of the American southwest, the animal hide painters of the Great Plains, the pottery painters of ancient Greece, and so many more, to paint on organic surfaces. I'm a rock painter as well, of garden stones, gravestones for pets, and decorated rocks painted with young art students.
I’m almost certain I gathered this piece of birchbark on Westkill Mountain, which I hiked every summer for years. Birch trees grow in small stands halfway up the mountain. If I find a curl of bark protruding from a tree, I peel it off gently, being careful not to strip the tree, and mark the spot so I can find it on the way back down – for the precious find must be carried in my hand down the mountain, not crushed in a backpack. This completes the hike, and brings my experience of the mountain into my art.
Managing what influences my work is part of my job as an artist. These interludes, like “forest bathing,” fill the channels of the unconscious, feeding what emerges later on, seemingly of its own accord. So much of my work as a professional illustrator is carefully planned and tightly composed; this sort of spontaneous dabbling is a refreshing break. It may not produce a masterpiece, but it fills the wellsprings of creativity. I stood back from this imaginary creature thinking how fishlike it was, swimming through the waters of some imaginary sea – perhaps the waters of the collective unconscious. There's more where this little snake came from. It's a friendly one, I promise.
A good week to all!
D Yael Bernhard
http://dyaelbernhard.com
children's books • fine art • illustration
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D. Yael Bernhard is a professional illustrator, fine art painter, writer, arts-in-ed teacher, and health & nutrition coach. She has illustrated and/or written over forty children’s books, many with educational and multicultural themes. Her work has been featured by religious publishers, environmental causes, and healers and midwives all over the world. Find her art at the links above, and visit her illustrated nutrition newsletter, The Art of Health, here.