Above and Below

What a wonderful world!

"Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light."

     ~ Theodore Roethke,
 American poet

 This sketchbook entry was inspired by a recent writing prompt in a class I’m facilitating.   The class series is at the Naples Botanical Garden - Botany through Art: Nature Journaling with Watercolor Pencils, and the idea was created by the Garden’s co-facilitator.  

The prompt was: “If you were one inch high, where would you live in the Garden and what would you do?”

It didn’t take long for me to choose the Water Garden.  I’m always fascinated with the hidden worlds of nature – what lies beneath water, leaves and rocks, the micro-level bits of life too small to see, the colors of light our eye can’t process.    My attempt was to show the three worlds that M.C. Escher so eloquently captured – the world above the water, the surface, and what lies below. 

It’s a wonderful art and writing prompt that channels us into thinking differently.

Every part of the water lily connects to these three worlds.  It’s an aquatic plant floating on the water’s surface that is connected to the world of water and the world of sky.  The stems below the water are the plant’s support, its lifeline and anchor to the earth below.  The bloom and lily pads rest on top of the water’s surface, reaching into the world above.  

What other life surrounds this water lily?  How is it experienced by small insects, reptiles, fish, and (maybe even) birds?  What universe exists inside its sphere?  These are the wonderments that lead me to explore and learn – all set into motion by a simple question.

Media
Aquabee sketchbook, 6x9”

.7 mm mechanical pencil
Mondeluz watercolor pencils

Derwent Inktense water soluble pencils

Niji waterbrush, Medium