The Stirring - Inspiration Behind the Collection

The Stirring Collection debuts Fall of 2023.

The collection features 12 original paintings and drawings. Read on to learn about what inspires me to create and see some of the places that influence my art.

a mist shrouded path in Shenandoah State Park flanked by autumn trees. — Shenandoah National Park

Nature is sacred. As holy as any church or temple. The Stirring is a transcendent awareness of nature’s divine spirit, when I feel, as though in a dream, both fear and awe, satisfaction and longing. It’s when I feel the ghosts of nature meet me in the present. Time layering upon itself to create this sacred space.

If I listen hard enough, I might hear a shaman performing an ancient rite or the haunting tones of Gregorian chants rising on the wind as it rakes through quaking Autumn leaves. Every moment, whether an insect dipping into the depths of a flower, or the violent swaying of the canopy in a storm, is a reminder of something more powerful than myself. My heart swells like it does no place else and I feel I’ll melt into the earth.

When I create artwork, I try to capture every essence of this feeling. Quiet, overwhelm, haunting, beauty, life, and death, it all coexists in nature. Experiencing this divinity makes my hair stand on end and exhale with a whisper of “wow” upon my breath.

Scroll to see images from my nature walks and explorations.

two trees on a hilltop in the Autumn — Stroud Preserve, Chester County, Pennsylvania

unripened dewberrys on the vine among grasses — Dewberries

spiky horrible thistle flower — Horrible Thistle

branches of live oak trees against a gray sky — Southern Live Oak on my property in Pensacola, Florida.

ivy and autumn browned leaves covering the rusted gate of a mausoleum at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery — Mausoleum at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, New York

female deer among trees in the woods with yellow flowers — Mount Desert Island, Maine

yellow flowers in long grasses in the the woods — Mount Desert Island, Maine

purple asters backlit by the sun — Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania

sunlight filtering through woodland trees highlighting yellow flowers in long grasses — Mount Desert Island, Maine

Brown plants of autumn at the edge of the fields in the shadow of the woods. A small house is visible in the distance beneath a vast sky — Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania

dark trees overhanging pathway at the edge of an autumn field — Stroud Preserve, Chester County, Pennsylvania

leaf covered path in misty autumn woods — Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

dew drops on spiderwebs draped on dried flowers

gray mist hovering among tree tops in autumn woods — Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Where to next?

the stirring Collection wallpaper

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painting details from the collection

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Kara Ffield BrownAugust 30, 20231 Comment