Born out of a personal growing interest in environment-conscious movements and a more mindful daily life, Observing Green is a pen and ink drawing series that catalogs green spaces and parkland in face of growing environmental concerns. Using clean, smooth, continuous lines, I’m able to take the vast, changing landscapes that I visit, and create accessible art pieces housed in up-cycled frames.
The series takes inspiration from revered artists like Franklin Booth, who’s pen and ink drawing style was formed by studying wood engravings in books and magazines at the turn of the 20th century. In keeping with such classic pen and ink works, the stylized nature of my Observing Green depictions lends a whimsical detachment to the landscapes while the use of successive, unnaturally straight horizontal lines to make up the sky gives them a backdrop of obvious human interaction. Painstakingly drawn in black and white, these precious green spaces are immortalized in a bygone style as though they are already lost to us.
I document my collaboration with nature using Instagram (@lkheaney & @observinggreen), where I’m able to share my artistic process as well as my attempts to establish environmentally sustainable habits in my art practice and day to day life. Through my social media presence and the Observing Green series, I strive to create a space for people to pause and appreciate the land’s remarkable story while potentially inspiring them to connect with their own local green spaces and take an interest in sustainability and ethical stewardship.
By donating a portion of all Observing Green proceeds to the Nature Conservancy of Canada, this series aims to support the conservation of Canada’s beautifully diverse ecosystems.
To view the entire Observing Green collection, please visit @observinggreen
To follow Laura as she travels Canada and to see her works in progress, please visit @lkheaney
To purchase Observing Green Open Edition Prints, please visit LKHeaney on Etsy