Dear readers, I am so sorry for our absence. Time moves so quickly sometimes, I cringe when I realize almost a month has passed with no update to this Dark Forest. It seems that both Chris and I fill our life to the very top with things, and we often discuss whether or not it is such a good idea to be so full of "to do". But that is for another day.
Today I am looking at the haunting work of Valerie Hammond.
Her works are mixed media - paper, encaustic, graphite, other things, all carefully rendered upon the page. The colors are natural yet dreamlike - I don't feel like they are connected to this world, yet incredibly grounded at the same time. In this series, she just does hand after hand after pair of hands - maybe a repetition, but of such an iconic and expressive form. It doesn't even need to be attached to an arm or a body to speak volumes.
I love the ferns, the flowers, the coral. All laying still on a washy field of color. For something so simple, and careful and centered, they really are very evocative.
