It was in 2014 that I first exhibited paintings at Walden Pond State Reservation. At that time, many of the works I produced were direct responses to the landscape around the pond and the surrounding woods. Near the end of that time of intense drawing and painting, I found my “stride” and began to open up my creative intuition enough to move beyond literal depictions of what I saw. This process was necessary, somewhat like taking very detailed field notes before I could learn what improvisation might look like. Simultaneously, I was reading Thoreau’s Walden again, appreciating the patchwork of experiences that informed his stay in the woods. Drawing, reading, walking the woods, and swimming in the pond were much like leaves as you see them at the pond’s clear water-edge: delicately layered, finely outlined, with contours running into each other.
To return to Walden and immerse myself artistically into the woods and the water again was both exciting and daunting. I’ve always loved this place, and have spent innumerable hours here over the years. At the same time, I wondered what it would be like to revisit painting and drawing from my particular perspective of life at the present moment: Does Walden speak differently to me now than it did then? How have we both changed? I picked up Walden again and while reading was reminded of Thoreau’s constant fascination with the everyday (even mundane) details that he’d see around him, and the following drew my attention:
Why do precisely these objects which we behold make a world?
“Water and Land Flora” Ink, gouache, and gesso on wood panel, 24 x 18 inches, 2023.
I carried that quote around with me as I walked, read, took photos, and painted. Walden has become a large part of my being; I feel as though a part of me resides here all the time, as if my surrogate walks the woods even if I’m otherwise occupied, so that I never quite leave. This was important to me as I worked because I noticed that creating art was more intuitive and sure-footed than it was nine years ago. So although it may not mean that Walden communicates any differently to me now than it did then, I have learned more of its language and understand what it says with greater comprehension, and deeper sensitivity.
I have chosen views, subjects, and sensations from Walden that are, for me, the precise objects that I behold that make a world.
John Biebel is a painter, writer, musician and product designer who currently lives and works just outside Providence, Rhode Island. This is his second exhibit at Walden Pond.