“Prayer and Gratitude” Wild Ink Sketch

When I started foraging in our neighborhood years ago, I did so with a mind conditioned to take the thing I wanted. It was static; find the thing, take the thing. It’s the myopic conditioning that takes without asking, concerns only the self, and doesn’t consider impact. I realized quickly that I needed to reconcile this in order to move forward in this practice. A practice, it was and is. It was about that time that Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s words arrived to change my entire life. Unlearning and remembering, relational care, and reciprocity became the North Star.

Several years of this work–getting to know this Land, growing plants from seed to craft color, and learning how to ask for only what I needed, the Honorable Harvest principles–has changed how I relate. Gratitude, real gratitude, is something I offer every day in the form of attention, watering, picking up trash, and the like. I ask what the Land needs and respond, waiting for the answer. I scan for who’s visiting and see how I can help. Prayer has never been a passive wish to me; it’s always about hope in action. Wildcrafting color is a type of prayer, always with gratitude for what’s been given.

This piece was created with foraged and home grown wild colors: Goldenrod, coreopsis (home grown), foraged earth pigment, Staghorn sumac, dandelion, and serviceberry.

The ink sketch was trimmed and floated on an uncut mat, framed in hard maple and glass. The glass is reflective and not UV resistant (note studio reflections in photos). I recommend hanging this piece out of direct sunlight to avoid fading.

Alternative framing is not available for this piece.