How we cite our quotes: (Section Break.Paragraph)
Quote #4
You sat, folding your bare legs in front of you. You took a paintbrush from behind the rocks, dipped it into a rusty-colored paste, and started painting your foot. You painted long thin lines, making your skin like the texture of tree bark. You frowned as you focused. (37.11)
Ty's thing with painting his body is kind of bizarre, but he seems to see it as a crucial part of his relationship with the land. He may intimately live within it, but his art helps him to become it.
Quote #5
You didn't let me finish. You were up in a second. "You think that's what I want?" Your voice cracked. Then you pointed the paintbrush at me. "Do your hand now," you said firmly. It wasn't a request. You pushed a saucer of brown-earth paint toward me. I saw the pulse in your throat throbbing, your jaw tense. "Paint yourself. Now." (37.122)
In the paragraph that comes before this, Gemma suggests that she talk to her dad and get Ty some help from a lawyer or doctor. Ty's reaction is to force her to paint her hand. It's as if he recognizes that she buys into the culture she comes from and wants to assimilate her into his culture of the land. And, um, from the looks of his jaw, resistance is futile.
Quote #6
"Like my painting?" you said.
"What is it?"
"Everything around us. The land." You grinned. "It's not finished yet. Every bit of wall will be part of it; me, too."
"Why?"
"I want to capture this, all this beauty, I want to connect … I want you to see everything the way it is before … while you're here." (74.5-9)
Unlike Gemma's mom's consumption of art, Ty sees creation as a way to directly connect with the land he's portraying, a way to become intimately involved with it. While we're pretty sure he was doing this before Gemma got there, we also think he's using the artwork to help her understand the beauty of the wilderness.