My Grandmother's Window

My dear grandmother once lived on a beautiful farm. I stayed there with her for a time in my youth. I found it to be a wondrous place, filled with innumerable birds, a gloriously productive garden, wide blue sky, and flowing fields of alfalfa.

She lives now in what they call an Assisted Living facility. Until recently her room had no windows and the plant-filled courtyard of the home is far away and difficult for her to get to.

So I have painted her a window. She can once again look upon a gently flowing stream . . . yellow flowers in the grass . . . a hill nearby with a grand old tree . . . and a cheerful visitor in the branches above.  

I began with a bit of cotton muslin about the size of a door and a basket full of acrylic paints.

And with a little help from my friend . . .

It wasn't long before we had this.

Soon after I sent this mural to my grandmother, she was moved into a new room - one with a view onto the courtyard filled with a myriad of plants, with birds busily fluttering about. But even at night, when all the other birds have settled in for the evening, she will always have her Cedar Waxwing there, keeping watch in the branches above.

-Bree

Where Have All the Trees Gone?

acrylic on canvas 8"x24"

(click images to enlarge)

It is unusual for me to paint with acrylics onto canvas, but here is one I quite like. I collected bits of paper that would otherwise have been thrown away during the third week of April 2009, and collaged the background with them. Then I layered in the homes, trees, and scrolls in acrylic paint. My love of trees has steadily grown since I moved to the coastal rain forest Living amongst trees here is two-sided: it is extraordinary to walk beneath them and hear and feel and see the life they are and the life they bring; then to see them, large and small, slashed and bound onto logging trucks headed for unknown and far off People purposes. I generally try to stay away from an agenda like this in my art, but I started thinking of this rhyme and couldn't get it out of my head until I painted it. The little tree on the left with all the leaves signifies new life, new hope.


In other happenings, I have been busily preparing for my first art/craft show booth! I am very excited and nervous. I will be having a space at the Astoria Sunday Market in Astoria, Oregon. It is a farmers market and art/craft show held downtown on Sundays, and runs throughout the summer months and just into the fall season. The first day of the market season this year is Mother's Day, May 9. I have a bit of new work that will be making an appearance there, will be posting them this week.