Cherry trees taught me enormous life lessons. When I was eight years old, Mom gave me the job of selling cherries from our fifteen trees to earn money for all my personal expenses: Girl Scout activities and camp, school supplies and field trips, dance classes, private music instruction, comic books or candy from the mom-and-pop […]
In the painting, Spirit Tree, I pay homage to the invisible forces around us. In the foreground, three smaller trees blow in the breeze, green, full of life. They might be the offspring of the huge tree-shape above. Like a parent, the enormous gray tree looms over them. The larger tree’s absence of color implies
I grew up in Seattle, across the street from a lake. Because I spent most of my childhood swimming in that large basin of water, it became my second home. When I dove in, I went so deep I touched the bottom and felt the crawdads playing. Fish swam nearby. Lily pads grew around me.
Lake Meditation Blue-Green Read More »
When I’m at the ocean, I stare at a long roll of water. It’s already built up to a swell, reached the apex of its rounded height, and now begins to break as it moves onto the shore. Often the beach is curved, so when I gaze at its entire length, the waves seem to
In Kauffman’s painting, Autumn Trees, yellow and orange branches blow in the wind, arcing in obeyance to the earth’s raw power. The two trees seem related to each other. Perhaps they are older and younger sisters. It appears that the large tree shields the shorter one from tempestuous gusts. In between the two, an intriguing
The art process can lead an artist into unexpected byways. An innocent contemplation of harvesting autumn fruit took me in a surprising direction. The end of summer means ripening fruit on the trees and expanding squashes, like pumpkins, on the vines. As they reach maturity, I become excited. Harvesting yellow and orange squashes, red apples,
Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York and online at www.walterwickisergallery.com Trees spend their lives in one place. And yet, in a tree’s solitary existence, enormous experiences occur. Weather bakes it or floods it. Insects invade. Sap rises and falls. Chemical messages from other plants flow through the air and underground. The tree grows or becomes ill.
The Blowing Tree from the exhibit Gallery Artists XXI Read More »
A large orange, purple and green tree spreads beyond the picture frame. We see the yellow and green roots below. Lines extend downward from the roots deeper into the soil, as if seeking nutrition. These lines illustrate the miraculous energy exchange between the rich nurturing dirt and the living tree. The straight lines at the
Root Energy Rain: an ink drawing Read More »
Blue Tree is an ink drawing that I created in 2023. It consists of hundreds of tiny ink lines that show a broad expanse of a blooming tree. Inspired by a huge walnut tree at the Seattle house (where I grew up), I depicted a shallow root system. Although the black walnut reaches a majestic
Blue Tree-Shallow and Valiant Read More »
I recently listened to a woman’s speech about having lived in a Stone Age indigenous community doing volunteer work for many years. She adapted herself to their lifestyle. In her descriptions, she casually mentioned that the village would gather together each week “at the Meeting Tree.” This sounded like a natural assumption that a large
The Meeting Tree: an ink drawing Read More »
