The Something Wild team decided to switch things up and go inside to observe nature for a change.
The exhibit Radical Quiet: Contemporary Drawings of Nature at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester features the work of three artists: Victoria Elbroch, Nancy Friese and Margot Glass.
Glass’s work is particularly striking for its level of detail and her subjects, overlooked weeds and wildflowers. She often makes her own ink from black walnuts she forages. She talked about her process with the Something Wild team.
“The color varies a little bit depending on the seasons and the years and the weather, and that's been kind of interesting to me,” Glass said. “I love working with this ink because it's so rich and dark. It smells great. It's like aromatherapy when I'm working with it.”
Something Wild host Dave Anderson of the Forest Society notes that black walnuts, although not native to New Hampshire, can sometimes be found here in old farmyards.
He says the husks of black walnuts can stain your hands for weeks.
“I collect the whole nuts inside the hulls,” Glass says. “They are very wet and heavy and full of worms so they need to dry out at this stage. They are absolutely crumbly and light when they’re ready.”
Glass has a deep respect for plants of all kinds, including those often dismissed as weeds or invasives like dandelions, garlic mustard and thistle.
“What really speaks to me are the more modest plants that often crop up between cracks in the sidewalk or along the borders of disturbed areas,” she said. “When I'm making the drawings, I'm thinking about all of the exquisite, delicate detail that exists even in dandelions and plants that are not considered to be as welcome in the landscape.”
Something Wild host Grace McCulloch of NH Audubon found her drawings of dandelions especially compelling. “Her technique elevates what we tend to think of as weeds into ethereal, delicate shapes.”
For these drawings, Glass uses gold point, a technique that dates back to the Renaissance. Looking closely at her drawings reveals intricate details, and the process demands patience and concentration; working with gold as a medium leaves little room for error.
“I have a piece of gold that I put in a stylus,” Glass explained. “You prepare the surface so that it will transfer the gold particles to the paper. And the drawing really comes to life; it has a way of turning on or off, depending on someone's relationship to it and where they are standing.”
Anderson notes that normally we rail against invasive species, and that's understandable given the damage they can do to native ecosystems. He says seeing the beauty in these plants requires a shift in perspective — a radical quieting of our busy minds.
Glass recalled finding garlic mustard, an invasive, during an artist residency. She told a colleague how excited she was to draw the plant because she found it beautiful. The response was immediate: “Oh no, feel free to pull them all out if you see them.”
“I understand that it can take over and devastate the landscape,” Glass said. “My work is really inviting someone else to witness the beauty that I'm seeing in the world.”
In contrast to the close observation of Glass, artist Nancy Friese paints expansive landscapes, and her use of watercolors gives her work a vibrant, impressionistic quality.
Another artist in the exhibition, Victoria Elbroch, features gnarled old trees from grand estates in England. These trees are familiar to McCulloch from childhood trips to visit family.
“I was struck by the hidden stories within those trees and by all the animals, fungi and plants that make them their homes,” McCulloch says. “I could almost imagine a tawny owl tucked into one of the hollows.”
New Hampshire may not have stately ancient trees on National Trust properties, but its own trees tell stories, too — stories of the landscape and its history, all around us.
Radical Quiet offers an opportunity to take a closer look at the familiar while also encouraging visitors to get outside and explore.
Radical Quiet: Contemporary Drawings of Nature by Victoria Elbroch, Nancy Friese, and Margot Glass is on view at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester through January 10, 2027.
Something Wild is a partnership of NH Audubon, the Forest Society, and NHPR.
