like a tree

I have been contemplating my next painting project.  Tru Cafe' has scheduled me for another exhibit in July of 2012, and of course I want to do all new work. 

I love trees.  As you know from my posts about my ginkgo tree.  No, I have been passionate about trees for a very long time.  I remember my tree house in the backyard when I was a kid in Beaver City, Nebraska.  And the huge tree in Heartwell Park in Hastings that had these exposed roots which provided a perfect place to sit at the base of the tree and contemplate life as a college student.

I am also currently reading a book called Like a Tree: How Trees, Women, and Tree People Can Save the Planet by Jean Shinoda Bolen. 

And it is that gorgeous time of the year when the trees have been displaying all their glorious colors, before dropping their leaves and exposing their most expressive limbs.

So I think I will do a series of paintings about trees.  My favorite trees in my neighborhood.  And so many favorites from our Long Pine home.  I can work in watercolor on paper.  Or acrylic on canvas.  Or try some small etchings on paper.

I already have zillions of photos of trees from which to work.  And, I will surely take more.

Jean Shinoda Bolen talks about how planting trees can help save the planet.  My husband Clint continues to plant trees in our yard.  He wants a forest.  An arboretum.  He is doing his part.

Maybe this woman can help save the planet by PAINTING trees!