Adirondack Linnaeus

You just never know who will turn out to be an artist.

Many scientists, trained to careful observation, are also creators of exquisite art works. A famous example of this is Carl Linnaeus, who illustrated his binomial system for the classification of living things in painstaking detail.

This tradition lives on in the North Country. Paul Smiths College biology professor Lee Ann Sporn has a long habit of clear, scientific thought and analysis, enabling her to translate and understand the minutiae of our natural world.

Have you ever strolled a forest path, blithely crushing underfoot the delicate tendrils of new plant life? And did you ever then stop, look, and repent of your carelessness? In Lee Ann's watercolor studies, lobes of fern, curls of blossom, even caterpillar-nibbled leaf edges all leap from their usual obscurity to command our attention, and to remind us of the wonders found in even the smallest living things. They bring to mind the words of William Blake: "To see a world in a grain of sand, and to see heaven in a wild flower..."

In her depiction of trillia clustered on a forest floor, shown above, we notice the veins which carry life-sap to the flowers, even as the industrious ant carries a morsel to its hill. Soft stamens poke forth above delicate stems, as pale springtime sunlight dapples the forest beyond.

Do you remember the feeling of cold, damp earth on a day that promises warmth, the fragrance of leaf mold and moisture? You will, when you look on Lee Ann's thoughtful botanicals.

Although her artistic explorations began in watercolor, Lee Ann has recently been exploring new directions in acrylic paint. Her on-line portfolio charts a journey of growth from a Linnaean style to a looser, more expressive exuberance.

Her mentor (and mine), Meg Bernstein, has helped Lee Ann mature into a wider realm of vision. Meg works broadly in color and shape, catching motion in luxurious brushstrokes. Her paintings, over the years, have developed almost to the abstract, while retaining a strong sense of air, light, and space. Though far from abstract, Lee Ann's work is moving toward a freedom of line clearly inspired by Meg's example.

Meg and Lee Ann will mount a show together this coming April, in the Cantwell Room of the Saranac Lake Free Library. The show will be based on their study of the Debar Forest area.

I, for one, am excited to see Lee Ann's scientific, artistic vision continue to develop.