In the jungle, Florida 1904

Winslow Homer made this watercolor, In the Jungle, Florida, with delicious marks in greens, browns, and grays. Can you picture him, squinting maybe in the humid heat, trying to get down the way the light filters through the trees? I love the quick, wet strokes – they capture the wildness and density of a jungle so well. You can almost feel the humidity and hear the rustling leaves, can’t you? Look at the way Homer suggests form with just a few strokes of the brush, especially that little cougar climbing in the branches. What was Homer thinking when he made it? I imagine he was trying to capture a fleeting moment, the feeling of being immersed in nature. He’s part of a longer conversation, too, between artists like John Singer Sargent and Georgia O’Keefe, all looking at the world and then trying to get it down on paper. Painting is all about the conversation between artists across time, riffing off each other’s ideas and techniques, and always exploring new ways of seeing and feeling.