I've always liked trees - climbing them, hiding among them, looking at them. They can be delicate or they can be awesome. I find that when I take photographs that are not of people that I try to get trees in the frame. I think this stems from growing up in the Kettle Moraine forest.

I'm not alone in my attraction to trees. People have been fascinated with them as long as humans have been able to communicate their ideas through semi-permanant forms (sculpture, paintings, legends, stories). We easily anthropomorphise them, and I find I did so accidentally here. This was just going to be an exercise in shapes & shadows, and suddenly I started seeing faces, and a hand.

This tree has been around for a very long, long time, and he has seen many suns. He records the passage of time, and holds these memories close within him until he is ready to pass them to another spirit, be it tree or human. He is not sad, but rather wise and observant. He knows.


HB graphite on drawing paper, 12" x 9"