Sunday, February 2, 2025

Bark and Bases

Bark and Bases






Concluding my series of tree sketch posts, I focus on bark and bases. Here are six color sketches. Three done before snowfall and three after.






The following passage is an excerpt from Diana Beresford-Kroegers’s book,

To Speak for the Trees:


“In telling the story of my life and the leaves, roots, trunks, bark and stems that weave all through it, I hope to stir that memory. I want to remind you that the forest is far more than a source of timber. It is our collective medicine cabinet. It is our lungs. It is the regulatory system for our climate and our oceans. It is the mantle of our planet. It is the health and well-being of our children and grandchildren. It is our sacred home. It is our salvation.”

















Saturday, February 1, 2025

Tree Trunks and Limbs

Tree Trunks and Limbs







Recently, I sketched the trunks and limbs of some trees that live together within a half acre next to our house. Here are six sketches. 




“The trees act not as individuals, but somehow as a collective. Exactly how they do this, we don’t yet know. But what we see is the power of unity. What happens to one happens to us all. We can starve together or feast together.”

Robin Wall Kimmerer, Author of “Braiding Sweetgrass - Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants”.