the pathless wood

‘the pathless wood’.

The title is a reference to a line from ‘Birches’, a poem by Robert Frost.

..when I’m weary of considerations,
And life is too much like a pathless wood..
When life feels like that, I go for a walk, usually in the woods nearby. This painting started as a watercolour sketch in one of my sketchbooks that I developed as a woodcut print. I then revisited it last year as a large pastel. I kept the 2:1 height to width format throughout.
'the pathless wood', 2015, 75cm x 37cm, pastel
‘the pathless wood’, 2015, 75cm x 37cm, pastel

From sketchbook to finished pastel painting:

 

 

 

 

 

2 thoughts on “the pathless wood

  1. I like the format very much.
    The wood cut is rather beautiful and gentle. What did you print it with? I’ve used the Japanese method with rice paste and watercolour and I really like the shading you can achieve that way.
    Yours looks mellow as if it’s done the same way?

    1. Fiona Mill says:

      Thanks Clare. Yes, I used the japanese method with the woodcut. Printing with the watercolour and rice paste gives a very subtle effect, very painterly. I love the process, but find it difficult to then replicate multiple prints exactly in order to create an edition; a discipline that takes a long time to master, I imagine.

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