The black ink lines are
razor-sharp, thick, thin, with subtle turns, details illustrating a story. The
gallery in Hawkshead displayed the stunning, original art inspired by the
landscape outside. Rabbits, ducks, mice . . . add soft watercolors and an
enchanted world appears for children to get lost in.
The young in heart can get lost in
Beatrix’s vision for that landscape, too. The character of Peter Rabbit enabled
the talented artist to tell a story to last for generations—the story found in
the Lake District in England.
A mere traveler through the Lake
District last month, I was overwhelmed with the achievement of an unmarried
woman at the turn of twentieth century, armed with pen and ink, using art and
children’s story to set aside the landscape and the fell farming way of life.
Beatrix Potter bought farms surrounding her beloved country home and donated
over 4,000 acres to the National Trust. Today the Lake District National Park preserves
the country life she honored and the beauty of land huddled around mirrored lakes,
velvet green hills, howes after fells. Stone walls wandering onward, gentle
brooks still flowing, and the baaing of sheep grazing on . . . I looked for
bunnies and saw a new family of ducks floating by. I heard the quiet and felt
the soul of Beatrix.
My late spring odyssey will be with
me always.
