There is something about our current state of affairs that feels like a suspension, hiatus, time-out, or an extended stay-cation. It’s as if the world has been put on hold and we are hovering in place, holding our breath, until we have made it over the bridge, or until we are told we can come … Continue reading Change
Category: A Year of Drawing Trees
If I Could Be A Tree
If I could be a tree I would a willow be To wave at all I see And shelter those with me. *** Or perhaps I’d be an oak To dangle tire and rope. In kid-laughter I’d soak And wear an autumn cloak. *** But oh a birch to be In ruffled finery Graceful limbs … Continue reading If I Could Be A Tree
Noticing
It seems to me that one of the chief benefits of drawing is to allow us to really notice what’s right in front of us. I’ve been walking the sidewalks of our neighborhood, almost daily, for the past 17 years and I discover new things all the time. There are certainly days when I’m hunkered … Continue reading Noticing
Be A Tree
More than ever before, I find myself wanting to be like the trees I am drawing. They stand tall, firmly rooted no matter the ever-changing weather, bending however needed to the passing winds and storms, yet always growing, even blooming, despite their losses. Yes. I’d like to be a tree. But my inner life belies … Continue reading Be A Tree
Rooted
“I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted, they travel about as far as we do.” - John Muir, Scottish-American naturalist. Though I may be hard pressed to say that every tree I see and draw is completely content (as of course, we embue … Continue reading Rooted
Poems
“Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.” -Khalil Gibran I am finding this to be true. Each and every tree...no matter how trimmed, blighted, hacked off, or allowed to grow free...speaks in verse or rhyme a tale of life and love, beauty and grace. Evening sky behind treeline... The limbs are like … Continue reading Poems
Gamut
In a week of drawing trees, one can run the gamut of emotions. From surprise in a Walmart parking lot to needing a hug, to laughing out loud, or standing in silent awe ... trees evoke a plethora of thoughts and feelings. I am not always able to capture the full range of this in … Continue reading Gamut
Drawings Beget Drawings
Perhaps it’s a law of Physics...but it is a reality I’ve noticed time and time again, that when you set your pen to paper and make a drawing, three others are begging to be drawn! You draw the tree and in doing so you notice daffodils are blooming a full month early! And one must, … Continue reading Drawings Beget Drawings