STOP AND PAINT THE WILDFLOWERS By Claire Giordano, watercolor artist
You are cobalt blue mixed with just a little bit of rose. And you are my yellow straight out of the palette, no mixing required! What is your name, little friend? Ohhh, and you are scarlet and ultramarine blue with a hint of white.
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s an artist and outdoor painter, the wildflowers of spring and summer are a joyous conversation told in the language of rioting color, delicate lines, and careful observation. When I am hiking, I entertain myself on the trail by trying to identify all the flowers I see and imagining the mixtures of paint I will use to illustrate their many hues. Often, I’m so distracted by the flowers that I trip over a rocky step or slide on a lingering snowfield while my nose follows the smell of lupine in the mountain breeze. Wildflowers are magical and ephemeral. I love learning about them and their alpine homes before heading out for hikes. And, as an environmental artist, I follow the wildflowers for their beauty and for the story they tell of our warming world.
From the celebration of the first buds of spring to the stampedes of people who travel to witness meadows brimming with blooms, wildflowers are part of the vast ecological cycles driven by the seasons. These cyclic patterns are studied by a branch of science called phenology, which explores the connections between climate and the timing of annual natural events like wildflower blooms, animal migrations, and many other phenomena over time. I first learned how phenology told the story of climate change while hiking in the Alps with scientists from the Research Center for Alpine Ecosystems in Chamonix, France (CREA Mont Blanc). The researchers showed me ponds full of tadpoles beneath snow-capped peaks. The baby frogs were hatching earlier as snow melted faster, and the ponds sat beside meadows full of wildflowers that were seen blooming earlier and appearing at higher elevations on the mountains. Now, when I hike at home in Washington, I paint the flowers and take note of when I see them to increase my awareness of how my favorite alpine meadows are changing over time. Knowing about these patterns makes the blooms even more precious and beautiful to witness.
mountaineers.org
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