Jack-in-the-Pulpit

I have sought Jack-in-the-Pulpits for several springs, hoping to present a contemporary take on the famous flower. Living in Vermont, I thought finding Jacks would be easy. It was not.
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In 2008, I found totally green jacks living in a suburb of Boston. I like green, but...

In 2009, I found dwarf jacks near a beaver dam in Middlesex Notch (I had neither sketchbook nor camera at hand).

This year, I discovered nearly a dozen Jacks here in Middlesex when I rescued a hubcap from the roadside.
I could not believe my good fortune!I took many photos of the Jacks in different light, from various angles. I sketched and re-sketched, working towards what the Jack-in-the-Pulpit gave me: Energy!

Jack-in-the-Pulpit, 24" X 24"

Intention

A full month of travel, parties, and many people has left me as a non-functioning introvert. I am in "quarantine," have limited my engagements and interactions for the next nine days. Today is my first day back in the studio. I don't know where my work will lead me: Finishing work that was abandoned when I left to spend the holidays with my father? Beginning an entirely new work?



I re-consider my drawing, "Cow," from last summer. Something about her pleases me, leaves me envious of the narrow focus of her life: Eat, sleep, meander, eat, sleep, give birth. Not unlike an artist's life.