The Generosity of Trees
Look who lives here - sketch
The Generosity of Trees
My worktable is littered with sketches and drawing materials, my iPad propped up against my pencil sharpener. I have been drawing trees from photos I took on my most recent trip to Portugal. At the end of the long table, I have placed canvases of different lengths that I intend use for this new body of work.
The themes is familiar. I have always loved drawing and painting trees. Of all the elements of the landscape I enjoying painting and drawing, trees are my favourite. I am intrigued by the endless patterns on the bark, the ways they grow out of the most inhospitable terrain, and the way and reinvent themselves to survive every climate, every season.
They inspire me, and always have.
Wherever I go, I seek out the trees: on the roadside, in the landscape, in gardens and parks.
So far, I have drawn five models of trees for this series. All of them have something in common despite their differences: they harbour life beyond their original mission. Most are alive with leaves, even blooms, others have come to the next cycle of their generous life; felled by time and weather, the trunks lay long against the earth, yet still supporting life. Their rotting trunks grow fungus, their inner core shelters insects and small creatures. New shoots reach out from them as their essence feeds another generation.
Beyond their biology, the worn and aging trunks also reveal the shapes of the spirits within them, and these, to me, speak of the bond we humans have with trees. under the layers of stripped bark, spirits live within the trees’ core. As I draw, I find their outline.
I am not sure how I will render these yet. The drawings are on standard 9 x 12 paper. The small canvasses measure from 12 to 20 inches long, of varying widths, although all are long rectangles.
This series is now firmly rooted in my mind’s focus. I have not yet done anything beyond the sketches, but my imagination is busy juggling options on what’s next.
All I know now is that these trees are speaking to me, about themselves, inviting me to learn what they embody throughout their lives: generosity and resilience.
I am paying attention.