By: Danielle Sartori
To be outside, get outside. Detach from the stressors of everyday life. Live in the moment. Be in the moment. Capture the moment. For me, this was the point of the multi-day rafting trip. That was the objective of my “plein air” paintings from six days with Wet Planet on the Main Salmon River in Idaho.
Plein air painting: The act of painting outdoors with the artist’s subject in direct view.
There is something different about a multi-day trip, immersing yourself in the outdoors, whether you’re hiking, rafting, sailing, canoeing, etc. A multi-day trip takes you out of the fast-paced life that many of us lead. It puts us in the slower, rhythmic elements of the outdoors, surrounded by natural landscape. Falling asleep when the sun sets and waking up when the sun rises. They say it takes three days for your body to adjust to being in the wilderness. Three days for your system to recalibrate.
In my experience, after day three of a multi-day river adventure or a backpacking trip, it really feels like your body starts to fall into rhythm with the trip. The group is starting to understand the roles they play. It starts to feel like things are slowing down and you can see the big picture.
Florence Williams, author of The 3-Day Effect, states:
“As our sensory brains slowly come to life outside over three days, we start to see and hear things we didn’t notice before. We become entranced by a state of “soft fascination” while also reducing activation in our cognitive, executive-functioning brain. Like a rested muscle, it comes back fresher, speculates Strayer. But it’s also after three days that we can meaningfully reset our circadian rhythms so we sleep and digest better. We start to show more empathy, more vitality, and perhaps even re-imagine ourselves and our place in the world.”
The watercolor plein air paintings from my recent rafting adventure on the Main Salmon River are a practice of presence in nature. I create paintings on multi-day trips, on hikes, or during a spare pocket of time. In my painting practice, I paint from reality instead of a photograph, aiming to capture that feeling of immersion. With my brush, I practice rendering the shifting of sensory elements like light, water and wind.
My multi-day rafting trip on the Main Salmon River with Wet Planet last August, venturing deep into Idaho’s Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness for 6 days, camping out on beaches while sleeping under the stars, felt like the truest form of capturing the essence of these special places in nature. It’s because of the deeper feeling of presence that comes with being immersed in wilderness for an extended period of time.
I sit alongside the river, paintbrush in hand, taking time to slow down and look deep into my surroundings: all the shades of color that I can discern, the shifting movement of nature, and the spaciousness of the landscape.
I hope when the viewer takes in my paintings, they don’t just see a painting of a river or forest, but they get the feeling of being there; they sense the comfort and awe of being with the river. I hope my paintings inspire the viewer to get outside.
It’s a simple idea, but it requires intention. Nature is medicine. I hope you have the opportunity to extend your stay in nature and capture the moment in your creative way!
To see more of Danielle’s work, check out her website: daniellemaayan.com
Danielle Sartori is a talented graphic designer with an additional passion for nature, kayaking and spending time on the river. While working in the office at Wet Planet she enjoyed the great opportunity to jump on a 6-day Main Salmon rafting trip at the end of a busy summer.
