Climate Conversations: Creation Care at Gallery 206

The Climate Conversations: Creation Care at Holy Comforter exhibit in Gallery 206 has gotten off to a great start. Maura and I lead an artist talk and tour of the exhibit. Maura put on her Data Scientist hat and shared the Memory Tree data we have gathered from the previous exhibits. The most mentioned tree for the Memory Tree installation is Willow. This has been a great exhibit to curate. 

 

A Prayer for Mother Earth on Mother's Day

A prayer for Mother Earth on Mother's Day

God by whom our fragile earth is blessed,
make us servants of your creation,
respecting and protecting all that you have made.

Teach us the joy of field and flower,
the splendour of forest and tree,
the grandeur of ocean and river.

Make us yearn for a world where all may flourish.
Show us how to walk gently on the earth and
hold all in trust for future generations.

Watercolor on paper, 8 x 10, Mountain to Sea Trail Misty Morning

Climate Conversation Drawing 17

Climate Conversations:

• I love the gingko tree in our front yard and love to see the leaves turn golden in the fall.

• I love our fig tree – it produces too much to enjoy. Started out as a little stick and now provides shade to our yard.

• Growing up, there was an enormous Japanese magnolia tree in my backyard. Every spring it would burst into full loom and by early summer the petals rained from the boughs.

This tree drawing is on pale yellow paper that is heavily textured, 18 x 24. This cedar tree in the North Carolina Mountains was heavily scarred. It was not dead, but was splitting very badly in some places. I used a full range of light and dark values in the center of the tree, then used less contrast at the edges of the tree. 

 

Climate Conversation Drawing 16

 

This drawing is on watercolor paper. It is the darkest of the series so far.

Conversations:

I last climbed a tree as a child in my parents’ backyard.

My favorite tree was my neighbors’ tree with a tire swing

The future feels bleak, but thanks for trying, trees.

Trees absorb a great deal of water! Drawing 15

Climate Conversation: My favorite tree is the willow oak in our front yard in Fourth Ward. It shaded our home for 40 years. We pruned it and raked its leaves all the time. When it came down, we had to add a sump pump under our house to handle all the water it absorbed [had been absorbing].

Drawing 15, 30x20 inches, graphite on paper

Drawing 15 Complete!

This is drawing 15 in the Tree Series I am working on. It is part of a future exhibit I am calling Climate Conversations. This is 22 x 30 on printing paper. 

The left edge of the tree is almost lost and very light in value. The tree has a very scarred texture. Looks like many nails were driven into the tree in the past. Many circular marks as well that I found fascinating. This was a combination of trees on the Penland Property. 

Climate Conversation Exhibit

The 1st of many Climate Conversation Exhibits. The McColl Center Take-Over show allowed me to test out a few parts of the concept. This included drawings, 3D public interaction, fiber and process sketches. Eventually I would like this to be a group exhibit with other artist interested in climate issues. 

Large fiber pieces. 

Public interaction about how climate effected folks or their favorite memory of a tree in their life. 

 

Trees on a Billboard Let's Hope

The above is my entry to Art Pop for 2020. I hope I get in. Below is the statement I wrote to go with it. 

My art has been informed by climate change, the public’s familiarity with drawing and the universality of trees.

Using graphite drawing, textured rubbing, and gestural marks, which look spontaneous but in fact, carefully placed. Intense texture-heavy areas allow for what a tree feels like. My drawing allows for artistic freedom while stimulating the mind to what branches may even smell like.

Our community sees trees as an abstract concept, and not as important for each neighborhood’s natural space, parks and greenways. I hope my drawings, exposed to thousands of people in the Charlotte area through Art Pop, will diffuse climate and nature into Charlotte’s soul as well as the community’s discourse.

Mountain to Sea Trail Color Pencil Drawings Part 2

Just having a great time with these pastel sketches. They are 7 x 10 inches, so an easy small size. I am trying to complete in one or two sittings at my studio. For this one, I got down in the weeds or wildflowers so to speak! 

Mountain to Sea Trail Color Pencil Drawings

Maura and I went hiking along the Mountain to Sea Trail near Sparta, NC. This is where the trail runs along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Easy access! Then we went to the Thistle Meadow Winery in Laurel Springs for a glass of wine! Wonderful day. 

These are fun patels in my sketchbook. More flat areas of color than my normal paintings. 

Drawing 11 in the Tree Series in Honor of Earth Day 2020

Drawing 11 in the series is pretty bold. No branches, no leaves, just texture. There are two pine trees in the drawing, one was struck by lightning. The edge of the bark was really fun to work on. 

Earth Day 2020 was last week.  I want my tree drawings, and the viewer’s understanding of how they relate to world climate events, to be as universally accessible and familiar as elementary school art class.

I hope that this Tree Series brings trees into our daily conversation so we can talk about climate change in a way that is personal to us. I share my work with others to provide common ground to work toward common purpose.

Tree Series to date - 10 drawings

  The Tree Series so far. Drawing 1 to 10.

Tree Series: Drawing 10 complete

I am spending as much time as I can doing art during the pandemic. Mainly to to keep my mind in a positive area. Nature is important and vital, so it is worth the time to spend capturing its beauty and subtly. Here is drawing 10 of the Tree series. I worked on adding more 3D elements to this drawing through two cut off branches. This tree had a great deal of moss on one side as well. The different textures of bark, moss, scare tissue are what is fascinating about these trees.

Drawing 9 in the Tree Series

Here is drawing 9 in my Tree Series. There are a few things I am happy about in this drawing. One is the dead branches that change texture on the right. Also the knot in the truck came out well. The multiple rings were fun to draw. The knot is almost a scare on the tree. This is a tree in the Cone Forest near Blowing Rock, NC.