These little embroideries have been clipped in one of my "trees" sketchbooks for years, and I'm now having serious thoughts about bringing them into the light of day, giving them wall space in the house.
The original inspiration came from a trip to Savannah many years ago, when the bark of the so-numerous varieties of palm trees became a fascination. I couldn't sketch it properly, couldn't reproduce it in thread— it was/is simply a love and ongoing challenge to play with all that texture over and again. Visiting Savannah in January, I meant to work on windows, architectural motifs, but the trees kept drawing me to them . . .
I like re-visiting ideas after a number of years to try new techniques I've learned along the way, adding new materials and new ways of seeing to ideas that have been of interest for some time. If a subject is interesting enough to spend time sketching and observing it, that interest often stays with me for years, decades, and I can re-shape the original ideas into something else over a period of time.
When we return at the end of this month, I will be lucky to have my sister with me, who is the artist of the family. Her preferred medium is pastels, though she can make any medium perform beautifully. I hope she and I will have some sketchbook time while we're there. And the trees . . . I think they'll call my name again.
Yes. In siren voices.
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