Transformation: A family portrait

This tree story began during a meditative walk in Shelter Island, NY where I reside.  I am absolutely enthralled by tree stumps, and everything trees.  I customarily take photos of trees, branches, leaves, stumps, and rocks during my walk and later see them closer to determine if I will turn them into pastel paintings.  

When I saw this image, I saw a baby's face where the leaf is,  its body face up, legs opened, as if ready for a diaper change.  My eyes were pulled toward the two rocks, one which looks like a grey heart and the golden one which felt like a guardian spirit.  I saw the image as a complete photo with every leaf, stick, and blade of grass placed perfectly, in alignment with each other.  A union of forms for a perfect composition.  

2020 photo shot on iphone during my meditative walk in Shelter Island, NY.

Tree stories series: Family portrait, Shelter Island, NY, 2020, pastels on 19.5 x 25 Indian paper

Soft pastels on 19.5 x 25 Indian paper (shizen paper)

I find myself curious over 'things left behind,' tree stumps in particular.  I see and feel them as souls, spirits left behind after the body is removed.  How it transforms, nourishes and becomes part one and all with its surroundings. Each entity that lays beside it representing other souls, energies which remain alongside each other and journey together to their next form. Once the full  image appears and I recognize its spirit, I too become part of the transformation.  

What miraculously happens as I begin to draw an image I've captured  I can only describe as an alchemical leap, a gestalt phenomenon.  For example, with this piece, I saw the original legs of the stump as faces only after I finished the piece and stepped back to see it from afar (see detail photos).  ​

detail of artwork

detail of artwork

When I saw the two faces I was awed by what it revealed. From my anthropological perspective, a whole family appeared to me. The child, parents, and loving beings, every leaf, rock, moss, pebble, stick, as spirits.   I imagined this once young tree's life cut short. A light being which  continues to regenerate loving energy back into the Universe.