Willows
Acrylic | Primed Panel | 16" x 16" x 1.5" | Private Collection
This willow tree was the centerpiece of my neighbor’s immaculate yard. For decades I was inspired by the changing seasons to create a piece that brought as much joy and awe as I received in watching its branches sway in waves during a wind storm or hang heavy with snow in the winter.
A few years ago, the willow succumbed to age... I can still hear the “WHOOMP” when the trunk came down. I was told it originally had been planted when the neighbor’s first child, Pam, was born. She commissioned me to create this seasonal series.
The challenge was I only had actual images for winter, fall and summer... I had to imagine spring from a different vantage point. The wagon wheel was added to each season to help show the sheer massiveness of the tree, however, the final lines of the Joyce Kilmer poem “Trees” keep coming to mind:
Poems are made by fools like me. But only God can make a tree.
Learn About Commissions
I enjoy taking on custom work when I have space and feel inspired. Learning about other’s stories, loved ones, and experiences is an honor and challenge I do not take for granted. Therefore, I do not accept all custom work, but I always value inquiries.