Many years ago I read a book, The Horn Island Logs of Walter Anderson, and became entranced by the author. It was a log of time he spent alone on an island off the coast of Mississippi.
He would row a small boat to the island and spend months alone. During that time, he observed the natural world that he found around him. Often he would gaze for hours at a bird or crab, following them around and just observing. Then he would try to capture its essence in sketches and watercolors.
He saw the patterns in bark, feathers, flowers and water. It always amazes me when I look and see that those patterns ARE there!
Perhaps his ability to focus so intensely was due to mental illness. He was hospitalized several times for depression and possible schizophrenia. In spite of it all, he continued to create beautiful works of art. Much of it is on typing paper, boards, wallpaper, and anything that offered a blank space to fill.
Anderson was hired to paint the walls of the Ocean Springs Community House. The series of murals wraps around the walls of the building in vibrant colors that fill all the spaces. Some of the above photos are of the community center, and others are from a room that he filled with art in his Mississippi home.
There is also a museum dedicated to his work in Ocean Springs, MS. Every year I try to make a pilgrimage there to look at it all once again and be awed by the magic.
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