Walking through the forest

          My name is Renee St. Onge Foster.  I live on a small heavily wooded island west of Seattle, Washington.  It is dark and rainy here most of the year, but in the summer time, it’s the most beautiful place in the world! Not to say that the gloom doesn’t have its appeal.  I love it because it speaks to me of magic and fairies and elves.

I often walk in the Grand Forest. That’s a series of trails through the woods that the park district maintains.  Many people use those trails.  It’s a sanctuary.  The trees drip with moss, woodpeckers chip at dead trees looking for bugs, owls fly overhead.  When it rains, the forest acts like an umbrella, sheltering you, and when it’s hot, the trees shade you.  It’s a perfect environment.

I started going to the Grand Forest many years ago. I could feel the presence of woodland spirits.  I let my imagination loose and pictured them doing all kinds of jobs. So I started doing watercolor paintings of them.  I did so many that I eventually compiled them into a book, well, actually, two books.

I graduated from college with a BFA in fine art.  My concentration at that time was oil painting and print making.  I’ve always used my art background for one thing or another, but am once again focused on painting.  Now my medium is watercolor.

This is a picture in the Grand Forest.  See how the moss hangs from the trees. It’s really very beautiful.