Bev Doolittle’s art in tune with nature

This time, the auction house had more artwork propped against a wall outside the building than hanging in its usual space inside. I happened to see the paintings and prints while previewing some furniture (including two lovely white wooden Adirondack chairs) soon after I arrived.

I didn’t expect to find much among the artwork – who’d put the good stuff on the pavement? – but I decided to check anyway. You never know what’s hiding behind that garish mirrored skyline of what looked like New York City.

I found nothing that pricked my interest in the first stack of about a dozen pieces of art, or the next stack. Then I noticed two flat cardboard containers hidden in the third stack away from prying eyes.

Flipping open the first container, I saw a square white envelope whose cover bore the words “The Earth is My Mother. Bev Doolittle.” I had not heard of this artist, but the envelope was so neat and clean that I just had to see what it held. It opened to a vividly drawn and beautifully colored print of a young girl’s face encapsulating a series of nature scenes. Camouflaged among the trees, flowers, leaves and stones, I saw a wolf, a little girl, a rabbit, a fox – and isn’t that an Eagle?

This was not the type of print that I’d normally go for, but I was amazed at its fine details and its execution. Therefore, I was curious about who Bev Doolittle was. So I Googled her name and actually found the print – selling for $725.

Now, I was definitely smitten. I recently learned that Amazon had started a website for galleries and dealers to sell works of art. Not necessarily your high-end museum quality art – even though some expensive art is being sold – but artwork for the rest of us. I hadn’t checked to see, though, if just anybody could sell art there (the site appears to be only for galleries, I found out later).

Although I wasn’t sure what I’d do with Doolittle’s prints, I was sure that I’d love to take them home.

As I continued to flip through the containers, I found another print, and then others in another stack of artwork against the wall. There were five total, two of them the same.

This wasn’t the first time I’d been lucky enough to find some amazing art buried in a stack. Recently, I picked up a small print by Alvin C. Hollingsworth. About two years ago, I found an autographed photo of Nat King Cole under a pile of toss-away artwork and personal photos.

Doolittle’s print of the little girl’s face was titled “The Earth is My Mother.” On a certificate of authenticity card accompanying the print, she spoke about how it came about:

“Many years ago, Jay (her husband) and I dreamed about creating a book that would tell the story of a young girl’s struggle to save a fragile desert canyon from development. Now that book is a reality. ‘The Earth is My Mother’ tells how 11-year-old Sarah tries to raise people’s awareness of Magic Canyon, a place honored by Native Americans and special to many species who call it home, whether they swim, fly, crawl or run. Sarah takes 15 ‘photographs’ that when combined in a special way with one her mother took – all images that are actually my watercolor paintings of wildlife, plants and Native American artifacts – reveal the portrait you see in ‘The Earth is My Mother’ limited edition print.”

The print was released along with the book in 1999. It is hand-signed and numbered by Doolittle, and produced by offset lithography by the Greenwich Workshop as part of “The Collector’s Edition.” It is one of an edition of 12,500 prints, with 150 artist proofs. It came with its original Greenwich certificate of authenticity.

A watercolorist, Doolittle was described as a visual storyteller and camouflage artist. Once I saw the word storyteller, I knew I’d like her as an artist along with her work.

“Many people call me a ‘camouflage artist,’ but that just isn’t true,” she says on the ‘Earth’ certificate card. “If I have to be categorized at all, I like to think of myself as a ‘concept painter.’ I am an artist who uses camouflage to get my story across, to slow down the viewing process so you can discover it for yourself. Everything I do is intended to enhance the idea of each piece. For me, camouflage is a means to an end, not an end in itself. My meaning and message are never hidden.”

Doolittle was born and raised in California, and later attended the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, where she met her husband Jay. The couple became what she called “Traveling Artists,” embarking on a year-long painting trip through the western United States, western Canada and Baja, Calif. That’s where she developed her painting style, starting with a watercolor titled “Pintos” in 1979, the first piece to show her communion with the outdoors.

Once their travels were over, the couple set up at malls and outdoor art shows to sell their works (they became “starving artists,” she said).

Now, though, Doolittle is a popular artist whose themes encompass the west, Native Americans, and animals in their natural habitat. She has also produced a series of stone lithographs in small editions. Doolitte has illustrated children’s books and created porcelain boxes featuring five of her most popular paintings. Her works are also on wall calendars and note cards.

She primarily produces limited edition prints of her watercolors, she says, because she doesn’t produce tons of paintings and this was a way to make sure her works were available in galleries. I found lots of Doolittle’s prints (many were produced in large editions) for sale on the web, especially on eBay, with asking prices in the thousands (many went unsold, though). You can see some of her original watercolors here and here, along with prints.

Once I got the prints home and was able to examine them thoroughly, I decided that they were not for sale. I plan to enjoy them a little longer. Here are the other prints from the auction and Doolittle’s story from the certificates of how they came about:

“Eagle Heart,” 1992

“In this painting, I used the Indian as a symbol for man living in harmony with nature. His belief in the eagle heart is so strong that he is surrounded by its spirit protectors and he becomes ‘one’ with the spirit, rocks and snow. This is the message of my painting. I have used camouflage techniques in ‘Eagle Heart’ as in many other paintings to communicate an idea.”

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“Sacred Circle,” 1991

“To the Indians, the circle was a sacred symbol. They perceived their life and environment as a series of circles. Our natural environment can also be viewed as a circle of dependent and interconnected natural elements. This painting is an attempt to symbolically portray the delicate thread that connects all natural things. I’ve placed man in the center as he is the only animal who can both understand and alter the sacred circle.” The portfolio at auction contained two of these prints.

 

 “The Spirit Takes Flight,” 1995

“I love the wilderness, and this painting is a reflection of that love. Even the most humble wilderness vista – one square foot of ground – holds immense beauty for me. It also holds the spirit of the Indian. I’ve used the Indian as a universal symbol of mankind living in harmony with nature. I’ve tried to fully integrate this human face into our natural world. As Chief Seattle once said, “We are part of the Earth, and the Earth is part of us.” I hope this painting will help to communicate that simple, but profound, idea.” This print accompanied a book titled “New Magic.”