Roots Study

A tree shows you only half of itself. The rest reaches down into the dark — anchoring, spreading, holding on out of sight. This drawing goes there, into the hidden world beneath our feet.

Real roots are too dense and tangled to copy, so I don't try. I work semi-abstract, following rhythm and flow rather than exact detail, reaching for the energy of the thing instead of its likeness. Every line grows from an inner image — my own response to nature's patterns.

There's old magic down there too. As children we imagined spirits and small creatures living among the roots; science has since explained them, but art keeps the mystery alive. That's what I'm after: the quiet power most people walk over without seeing.

This is my nature theme at its roots, literally. An original drawing. Signed.

Jolanta Johnsson