"second nature"

When you see a fish, you do not think of its scales do you? You think of its speed, its floating, flashing body seen through the water…. Well, I’ve tried to express just that. If I made fins and eyes and scales, I would arrest its movement and hold you by a pattern or a shape of reality. I want just the flash of its spirit.
-Brancusi

'Spending time at Jane Rosen’s studio was like witnessing the flash of spirit that Brancusi sought to capture, that I abide by in my own life: the profundity of seeing the essence of nature and art through the animal life. An immediate bond was apparent . Jane’s art - whether bird, fish or fowl resonates with the spirit. The word “essence” is defined as “the permanent as contrasted with the temporary element of being.” Her sculpture is essence."
tayloe piggott 2011