To paint or draw a tree presents so many challenges. For one thing, it’s difficult to see a tree separate from its neighboring trees, and yet you need to depict the tree as distinct in some way. For another, I must ask why I am painting the tree. Why is it important?
I live in Buncombe County, NC, and many people and many many more trees died when Hurricane Helene hit the area. Although at our house, we only suffered the loss of utilities for less than a week, the effect on our wider community has been profound, painful, tiring. So why paint a tree?
In short, I needed to get back to painting, and I needed to sit in front of something and paint it. And we have this cherry tree that we just planted last spring in the back yard, near the fence. It seemed to be doing well all summer. Then, when Hurricane Helene hit, the wind knocked over a white oak that lived in our neighbor’s yard. The white oak fell and knocked over a pine tree on its way down, and both trees fell onto our fence and damaged it.
And if the white oak or the pine had been a bit taller, they would have killed the young cherry. But the cherry survived. It was not touched. It continues to do well.
So I am painting the cherry, and the process of painting it brings me back to thoughts of what will survive and what won’t, although I don’t have any concrete answers about that.
I find it comforting to sit and carefully observe the cherry tree that survived, as well as the fallen ones nearby. It is also comforting to look at our forests now, with their autumn fashions displayed, and their annual ritual of becoming nude.
One inspiration for this painting is the documentary film El Sol Del Membrillo (also called The Quince Tree Sun, or Dream of Light), which portrays the painter Antonio Lopez Garcia thoughtfully painting a tree with his unique methods. Check it out. (It’s currently free to watch on YouTube, including subtitles in English that you can turn on in the settings.)
Bryan K. Alexander 
Hi, Bryan … What a pleasant surprise to see your painting and to learn about why you produced it. When you mentioned that you were painting a tree, I thought about asking to see it but did not follow up. Who and what survives a disaster remains a mystery. Nevertheless, I think that to observe carefully even a small part of these events, which must be done in painting, is a way of attending to something that could otherwise feel overwhelming. Seeing the green cherry sapling in your painting is an important reminder to me of survival and hope. Thanks for sharing your work. -Ken
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Ken! I’m glad the surprise was a pleasant one!
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Good one honey!Sent from my iPhone
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Thanks honey!
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I just wanted to say I loved reading your words and seeing your cherry tree painting in progress. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and your art.
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Thanks Jennifer!
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I’ve always believed bare trees against a colorful sky were the inspiration for lace.
Driving around the other day, when it was unknown to me, the last day of the beautiful trees filled with so much autumn color. I came to the realization that through all the frustrations in life.
Nature remains consistent. The crops will continue to grow in the summer and dry ready for harvest in the fall. The trees that bloomed in springtime and turned green and lush during the summer, will put on a show of color in fall. The hot sultry temperatures of summer will turn to cool evenings with winds changing from the south to the out of the north. And we will have winter again.
I also realized the rivers, creeks, and ponds are visible again.
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