Tree

Tree is a body of work that shares my deep love and fascination with the natural world and paint over a three year period. Using the natural world as a muse I explore not only an intimate connection/conversation with individual trees but also my experience with life; highs and lows, joy and sorrow, beauty and chaos.

The tree paintings, that begin this body of work, were done en plein air in Manitoba forests. They focus on the textures, colours, and markings of individual tree trunks observed in the moment. I write “in the moment” as the colours and shapes that I observed while painting, shifted and changed as the light and shadows changed with the sun’s movement. The tree trunks transformed from seemingly static objects into living, moving tapestries telling their story to me as I worked. I attempted to capture this wordless conversation with the trees with vibrant marks, shapes and colours.

The tree series provided a springboard for me to push deeper into my artistic practice exploring inner responses to events in my immediate world and the world in general that included confusion, chaos, loss and pain. “Wayward Garden” and “Tangled Garden” dance between themes of chaos and harmony. “Meadow Medley” attempts to capture a range of energies from quiet stillness to the dense rhythms and flow found within forest meadows. “Passage” and the “Purple Rain Series” are more personal expressions where, still using nature as a muse, I explore transition periods that entwine feelings of loss and pain. The organic shapes and marks within these works seem to be in the process of forming and dissolving. I feel they reflect both the shifting and changing world within myself and the world around me. There is also an openness and airiness about them that reflects my hope for salvation and healing of our natural environments, events in the world, and ourselves.

The Trees

Wayward Garden