So Many Oaks!

Golden Rule

Serendipity is great, isn't it? I found this gold-painted frame in a neighbor's "free" pile the other day. It just needed some TLC and new hardware, and it was ready for prime time. I painted the scarlet oak on a background of pages Montaigne's Essays on the Law (1812 printing) and embellished the frame to harmonize with the details in the tree.

Exploring Our California Heritage

The works in this section are inspired by - and painted on - pages from California: Health, Pleasure, and Residence (1878), a travelogue encouraging people to come and settle this "unpopulated" wild frontier.

Heritage Oak

This is based on the Black Oak, a deciduous tree that is native to California. I was inspired to paint this after meeting a fellow artist who is of Pueblo and Navaho heritage. He noted that my linework seems to echo his traditional designs. It's clear now that my admiration of Southwest indigenous artistic traditions has filtered into my own work. I decided to paint this to honor two important threads of influence: design motifs from Southwest native traditions, and Celtic motifs from jewelry, manuscripts, and neolithic burial sites. (16 x 20 panel).

California Oak

This is my artistic rendition of a California Oak, based on reference photos and drawings of the branches and root structure. These pages give advice on how to, shall we say, select and manage laborers. The earnest way that it encourages exploitation of immigrant and native populations is why the roots on this tree are painted blood red. We need to remember where we come from. On a positive note, the leaves are shiny silver, reflecting my hope that we are getting better over time (16 x 20 canvas; sold)

California Black Oak

The Black Oak grows in inland areas, such as Yosemite. The pages here offer a rather amusing juxtaposition: In a chapter on wine-growing in California, they chose to include depictions of famous sites in Yosemite. (9 x 12 panel)

A Day in LA

There is no deep meaning here! I was just highly amused that the authors used etchings of Yosemite to illustrate a chapter on Los Angeles. This tree is inspired by one that is visible in the top right etching (11 x 14 panel; sold).

Universal History of the United States: Exploring Our Roots

The trees in this section are painted on pages from a little book that I found in my late grandmother's collection. The book has no spine; the brown leather cover is worn smooth; the title page has completely disintegrated, and the remaining pages are brown and blotchy with age. My grandmother wrote "1830" on the inside of the front cover, and she's added random notes throughout the book. Since the work abruptly ends with Andrew Jackson's presidency, I suspect that date is correct.

Heritage Tree: Scarlet Oak

I'm still working through responses to our shared heritage, both here in California and in the greater US context. As with Heritage Oak, in this work I reflect on how I am inspired by the traditions that I inherited from my ancestors as I pay homage to the traditions that have always been part of the land that we call "America." The scarlet oak is native to the areas that would have been included in the United States back in the 1830s. Its sturdy taproot makes this oak particularly resilient. (24 x 30 panel)

White Oak with Raven

The White Oak is indigenous to the east coast of the US, which would have been the political and cultural center of our country back when this book was written. The raven is sacred to many cultures. In native American traditions, it is often seen as a spirit animal that brings good energy. I painted this during our election season, as a talisman of sorts to manifest positive energy for us all. (16 x 20 panel)

Advertisements from The FRA: A Journal of Affirmation (1910)

These trees are California Oaks painted on 8 x 10 panels - the perfect size for pages from a quirky journal of philosophy from the early 1900s. I have painted several of these because I keep finding new inspiration in its pages.

That's How the Light Gets In

This is my favorite of my little trees. The advertisements here showcase the strict gender roles of early 1900s America - which still impact us today. I painted this while I was listening to Leonard Cohen's Anthem: "There's a crack in everything, and that's how the light gets in."

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