Bark/Trees/Forest

I have always loved walking in the woods.  I was blessed to grow up a block away from a forest protected as part of the Newark, NJ watershed, and later lived within walking distance of Duke Forest—both preserved in perpetuity.  

Only later did I come to understand how threatened forests are.

Although I have advocated for forests in a general way many times, the loblolly pines of the University of Florida’s Bat House Woods Conservation Area drew my special focus.  Following the lead of my husband, and with the support of many across the Gainesville community, we fought to protect these trees, slated to be cut because they cast shade on the adjacent golf course, allegedly causing the grass to brown.

For weeks, till the threat subsided, I could barely breathe.  Instead, I made art as an act of elegy.  The pine trees in this series--pencil drawings, diagrams, gouaches—were my prayers.

As I have begun looking ever-more closely at trees, I have focused on my own eyes’ level, on trees’ trunks, and their bark.  These paintings of bark, nearly 1:1 in scale, are simultaneously gestures of deep admiration and research studies.  How can these trees, many living so close to each other, be so varied?  Since their barks’ function is the same—to transmit nutrients and protect their trees—why are their structures, colorations, and textures so different?  What role does DNA’s formula play in creating such diversity?  How do location, adjacencies, soil, sunlight, and rainfall shape these elegant forms?

The magic of the world, its complexity, interdependence, resilience, functionality, and beauty can be found in any square foot of bark, in any and every tree, and in all forests.  This series was made to honor this stunning forest-being.

12” x 12” oil on canvas, shown.