The Memory Of The Trees

The Memory Of The Trees
acrylics, impasto medium, ephemera on canvas
Side panels - embroidery on linen

I've been wanting to show you this painting for days, hoping I'd have it finished before my trip. I started working on it just after the anniversary of Black Saturday.


Without doing myself a disservice I have to say that this painting came from a place much deeper than me. I painted it through those hot nights last week, and I painted fast and furiously. It only took me two days to complete the painted part of it.


I wanted to put an embroidered word on the front of it but couldn't find a place where it would fit. Then I remembered some work by Sabrina Ward Harrison I'd seen where she used the sides of her canvases. I love this idea of working beyond the usual surface.


I am fascinated that the process of making this piece has, in it's own tiny way and completely without any conscious thought, emulated the cycle of destruction and renewal that came with Black Saturday. The painting was fast, fierce, hot and immediate, while the embroidery has been a slow, concentrated, gentle process.


Isn't that the way with these things? My emotional peaks are full of fiery, hot energy followed by a quiet, gentle time of renewal. Today is a day of quiet renewal.

1 sleep peeps, 1 sleep.