Benno Schotz often took inspiration from walks though nature, noticing figures within the shapes of trees. He would take inspiration from tree branches, flotsam and interesting pebbles, keeping the composition and make slight alterations in his sketches to highlight the human forms. When he saw a figure within nature that needed no alteration, he called this “heavenly sculpture”.
Within his sculptures, Schotz enhanced the simplicity of his shapes, keeping the composition of that which he saw around him. The process laid out in this sketchbook led to the creation of many of his sculptures, including, The Window on the World, The Psalmist, Ex Terra, and Alice and The Red Queen.
