Michelle (Basic) Hendry - Fine Artist & Author

Artist and Author - Landscapes and Ruins

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Forest Alchemy

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Forest Alchemy
Forest Alchemy ©2004 Michelle Basic Hendry

Alchemy is the transformation of one substance into another, particularly lead into gold; a spiritual, mystical and physical experience for the alchemist.

Nature is the ultimate alchemist, transforming through her cycle of the seasons – most notably in the trees. After the leaves drop to the ground, their colours seems to slowly meld with the tones of the earth beneath them, changing from rich golds and crimson to bronze, then brown. They are then recycled from the soil and back into Gold.

I was playing with the idea of making a ‘painting’ of the Muskoka forest floor in gold, silver and bronze paints. This painting took hours to first mold the leaves and a week to dry them. I added layer after layer of paint to create the effects of both nature and metal. Of all the paintings in this early combination of abstracts and realism in mixed media – this one was by far my favourite. It was the very first painting that I sold.

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  5. Michelle

    Thanks, Trevor!

    It was fun to get the balance of lustre and colour – thanks, Sadia!

    Thanks, Linda… 🙂

    Ingrid – I had fun with that idea!

  15. Michelle

    Thanks, Patrick! 🙂

    Thanks, Heather – occasionally one acts on pure inspiration.. This was one of those times.

  16. Geoffrey

    Michelle,

    I must be dreaming as I saw this post a while back and felt certain I left a comment but I see I didn’t.

    Your notion of alchemy connected to me on the level of the psyche: lead to gold, the symbolism of the base corruptible metal transformed into the pure and incorruptible.

    I understand that scientists have performed this transmutation, but I’m only interested in its emotional imagery.

    Your mixed-media picture is a real delight. I feel a little sad that you sold it.

    When I painted, I gave away, lost, destroyed, sold, so many images I would now love to see again. I’m so glad you kept one of yours. It’s very beautiful!

    Take care,

    Geoffrey