Ink on frosted mylar
56″ x 39.5″ x 0″
My artworks document real trees. I begin my journey by wandering through forests, suburban neighborhoods and arboretums. I find trees that I like. Then I photograph the location from different angels, print the photos and make a collage as a preliminary sketch. Finally, I rework the collage into pen and ink drawings.
As I draw, I weave reality with strings of fantasy and inspiration that I received form the actual trees at the location. In my studio, I revisit the tree and talk to them. I think about the roots breaking the dry soil in the ground or how a branch bends over one’s had to the sky.
Trees provide me with a mirror to look inward. They make me nostalgic of the wild freedom, wonder and fear I experienced growing up in my home forests of Indiana. My goal as an artist is to help provide access for others to that self reflective mirror, to reconnect us with looking and be an envoy to nature.
