The Wonder of Nurse Logs
by Hannah Sanders
The Wonder of Nurse Logs, drawing by Hannah Sanders
Details of medium and approach:
The Wonder of Nurse Logs is a charcoal and pencil drawing. I resisted the temptation to use color, trying instead to convey dynamic life and regeneration even in the absence of things longed for.
THE WONDER OF NURSE LOGS
I first came across nurse logs while hiking in the lush Hoh Rainforest in the Pacific Northwest a few years ago. As my eyes drank in the magical beauty of lichen cloaked limbs, fern, and soft moss carpet, I stopped, arrested, staring at these fallen trees that now seemed to have entire trees growing out of them. As soon as my family returned to modern conveniences, I wanted to learn everything I could about these fallen trees that seemed to give life to a new generation. I learned that nurse logs are also called “healers of the forest.” They offer shade and protection to seedlings, offer themselves up as nutrition for new growth, and are home to countless creatures that support the health of the forest. Nurse logs are visual reminders of enduring legacy and life even after death. This image of intergenerational care has been one that has stuck with me and come to mind several times as I’ve pondered the challenges of parenting and life as a high-school teacher.
Nurse logs came to mind last summer in a place I wasn’t expecting them to—while touring the home of Louisa May Alcott on the other side of the country in Massachusetts. While many know about Louisa’s famous work, Little Women, few are familiar with the work of her sister, Abigail May Alcott. This youngest Alcott sister, who simply went by May, was an artist. Their parents, unable to support both Louisa’s writing and May’s art, made a concession. May was allowed to draw and paint to her heart’s content on the walls of their home as long as her art continued to show improvement. May worked hard on her art, and the beautiful classically themed drawings and portraits that remain on the walls and doorframes of her childhood home bear testament to her gift and perseverance. Louisa was eventually able to make enough money from her writing to send May to Europe to receive art education. I don’t know that there are many who think of May’s profound works such as La Négresse or are aware that her still life painting was chosen over the work of Mary Cassatt to be exhibited in the Paris Salon! I wonder if this is because she made the choice to return to Concord, Massachusetts, to set up an art studio to train and promote emerging artists.
Daniel Chester French was one of the first artists to receive training and supplies from May Alcott. I imagine May gave him everything she knew and could give him in the few years she had between setting up the studio in 1875 and her death in 1879. Daniel’s excellence as an artist is evident in his first sculptural commission: the Minute Man statue in Concord. What was even more stunning for me to learn was that he was also the artist behind the marble statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. These two giant works stand as heralds of May’s sacrificial life and witnesses of key moments in history.
As I made this charcoal drawing, I thought to myself about how I want to be a nurse log just like May. In a hustling world of fierce competition, I want to be one who offers myself as shelter, nourishment, a safe place to rest, and support for all that my children and students can grow and live into.
Lord, make it so.
HANNAH SANDERS
Hannah Sanders is a follower of Christ, wife, mom, teacher, artist and writer. She loves all things book-ish, afternoon tea, and is happiest in the mountains and when surrounded by tall trees. Her art, prose, and poetry have been featured by the Brazos Valley Arts Council, The Way Back to Ourselves, Vessels of Light, and Calla Press, among others. @hannahsanders.art is her little corner on Instagram.