Thursday, April 16, 2009

A Study in Stillness

An oak tree was on my mind when I returned home from a trip this past Monday, partly because it was struck by lightning several years ago. It still has the char marks and some loose bark as reminders. Several days earlier I had driven through pounding rain, lightning bolts that rivaled tree branches and high winds and hail that eventually spawned a tornado several miles to the south. Though it was still windy and overcast as I sat down to sketch, the dark clouds were breaking. Occasionally they let the afternoon sun cast a yellow glow over the tree. Home felt good, the oak solid, still, rooted. I was looking for something soothing to sketch, something still that wouldn’t hop or fly away. This tree seemed perfectly suited.

Its tangled branches challenged me. I easily lost beginnings and endings retracing my lines several times. The tree is so wonderfully massive that to get too close is to miss its glory; to get too far away is to lose sight of its exquisite detail.

I thrilled when a brown thrasher landed on one limb and grabbed my camera to view it better. I hopped up to take a closer look at the newly birthed oak leaves, softly frosted in pastel shades of pink and green and sketched them while standing. On the way back to my seat, I snapped photos of dogwood blossoms glistening as the clouds cleared the sun and added one to the sketch.
Smiling, I sat down again. An oak tree still? Maybe not. Sketching this oak felt more like dancing.

To see another fun visitor I had while sketching visit Vickie Henderson Art.

8 comments:

  1. Beautiful...I love the little oak leaves..I just took a photo of them today...they look like wedding bouquets with the bits that drape down.

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  2. Your oak is truly mystical, Vickie. I can feel its calm stillness just looking at your sketch. Loved your description, too.

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  3. Vickie, the Oak is my special tree, its strength, age and durability are sll characteristics I admire, your sketch portrays them all so well.
    I did some wild shooting in our muntain garden yesterday with the wonderful afternoon light streaming through the autumn leaves.
    Finally after 26 years, inspired by Ces and you , I put brush to paper agin and thoroughly enjoyed myself in our wild wood.

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  4. The oak looks so majestic and yet serene. I love your sketches.

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  5. Oh, I love the last line of your post, Vickie! It's a beautiful spread, but that sentence captures it so well...

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  6. What did you do when the bird grabbed your camera, AND what in the world was it trying to see on the limb?! ;-) (Sorry, I couldn't resist. All in good fun.)

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  7. Anonymous, not surprised...I read it that way several times. I changed it once, but didn't like the rhythm! Glad you're having fun!

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  8. Such a lovely and sensitive painting! I enjoyed your post, too. Oaks are wonderful trees, I love the thought of them dancing!

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