Maisema, puita 1910 - 1911

Magnus Enckell drew these trees in colored pencil, placing them in a clearing. I wonder if he labored over this landscape or found his way into it, shifting and emerging through trial and error. Maybe he sat in front of the trees and just let it happen. I really sympathize with what it must have been like to create it. What he might have been thinking when he made it. The scratchy marks and muted palette offer a way of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the forest. I am drawn to the repetitive hatching of marks, especially those which define the forest floor. This gesture communicates a rhythm, like walking through the woods or the feeling of light flickering through the leaves. The marks relate to Enckell's practice of quietly observing nature. Looking at this makes me want to run outside and draw. It's like artists are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. Painting embraces ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations.