Of Trees and Life

Artist’s Statement

Our old black walnut tree no longer stands out front; it fell with others in the tornado of 2018. Its history is inscribed in the sculptures: the insults from droughts, storms, man, and diseases – engraved for us to see with lines that show the years which suddenly came to an end. Quite unexpected.

Our black walnut tree was planted around the time our Democracy was formed. Both stood straight and tall for all these years until they have now been weakened by disease and threatened by insurrection.

These were my thoughts as I cut and sanded trying to capture the feelings and emotions of the pandemic of 2020/21 and the social unrest created by an inept response by our government resulting in hunger, isolation, guilt, pain, fear, sorrow, anger, dying alone. But I also found some flickers of hope, love, passion, comfort, forgiveness as I awaited spring.

All sculptures have live edges with sap wood and bark to pay homage to the many trees that have fallen on our farm.