| Name | Elaine Fleck |
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| Phone | 5403455932 |
| Email hidden; Javascript is required. | |
| Name of Work | Turtle Island |
| Please upload a JPG of your COMPLETED work. |  |
| Describe the completed work, including media, size and presentation format. (All art forms are accepted for this call, but there must be a physical representation of the work ready for display. Most often this is a framed and ready-to-hang two dimensional image.) | fabric and oils, 21×29, and framed in wood |
| Please reflect on how your contemplative practice informed or helped shape the work. | I strived to have a contemplative practice as I sat on the banks of Tinker Creek. However, the mosquitoes hounded me, and I contracted a case of itchy, uncomfortable poison ivy. Those experiences might have allowed me to experience the whole package of Tinker Creek life. |
| Please reflect on how your deeper exploration of nature informed or helped shape the work. | I first observed the turtles for the painting on the Roanoke Greenway, but the setting for them is from my time spent at Tinker Creek next to the entrance of Hollins College. I see now why Annie Dillard spent time there. It instantly became apparent to me that this part of Tinker Creek has a very healthy ecosystem, and I wanted to portray the turtles as a part of that. |
| Please reflect on how your engagement with the text of PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK informed or helped shape the work. | I was inspired by Annie Dillard’s super observant writing about a frog’s interaction with a giant water bug. I didn’t see any frogs, but during a Greenway walk, I observed a group of turtles sunning themselves on a log, and I wanted to capture the look on their faces in the Tinker Creek setting. |
| What questions has this work prompted you to explore next? | It’s too soon to say. I have to let the turtle dust settle and allow the questions to percolate in my brain for a while. |
| What did you learn in the process? | I learned how difficult it is to paint turtles and how difficult painting outdoors can be. |
| This is an original work and I have identified all technology used in the creation of this work in the description of my process above. My typed name stands for my signature. | Elaine Fleck |
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