Of Forests and Old Trees

One of the greatest gifts I received from my father was the gift of Nature, and a love for the environment. From an early age he would take me and my sister on camping trips around California. The first trip was to Lassen, when I was 5, from then on every summer we would go somewhere. My mother liked the redwoods along the coast, I don’t think Daddy cared where we went as long as we were outside and he could hike, build a campfire and sit in camp and read. I loved the granite peaks and domes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This is the source of much of my creative inspiration.

Have you ever lay on your back and looked through the branches of a tree?
Try it some time. Inspiration for the drawings in this section came from spending time on my back looking up into the lacy needles and leaves of many different kinds of trees. I would alter my focus, like changing the depth of filed in a camera to gain a better perspective of what I was viewing. Sometimes I would look up into the middle of a grove, and trees would be surrounding me in a circle. I could focus on the inner circle, or out into the sky. I did this one night looking at the moon, it was so still, feeling the cool nights breeze on my face, the sound of the water nearby, and the light reflecting off the tips of the trees. I knew I had to follow through on this particular theme, to see if I could generate that same experience in my images.

There are many old and dying trees in the areas I like to travel, especially in the higher elevations. At these elevations, just below the tree line, it is east to spot the old trees. Even though the tree is dead, it is still home to much life. Insects, birds, reptiles, even the bears can find food in these old logs. There are many reasons that the trees have died from old age, lightening strikes, and bark beetles. The older trees that are still standing, have such a story to tell, so do the downed ones as well, but the have begun to merge back in to the earth. I often wish I could get them to talk to me and tell me what they have seen and experienced. They also evoke an incredible stillness, and I can feel wisdom and knowledge emanating from them. I wanted to capture that essence.

When you are hiking in the high country just about the tree line and look out into the valleys and canyons below, the forest just spreads on and out below you and I feel like I could fly out over the landscape. There is so much to see and feel, the earths vibration sings in the wind and water, I can feel the earth and air surrounding me above, below, in all of my senses. I feel the gifts the universe has to offer all of us if we just stop and listen for a while.

This is what I received from my father, a love and an appreciation of all that is wild and free and to keep the experience in the city as well.