Liminal Deer – work in progress

Lots of time to waffle on a title for this quadriptych as I try to claw back some time time in the studio! I see these leucistic deer as liminal figures in a dormant California winter landscape that is cut through by a highway – traces of which have caught the deer’s attention as the headlines of an oncoming car approach.

Timber!

The last of the tree to go….

….well it was pretty dramatic, they had to cut wedges from the base just so and pull with ropes to make sure the trunk didn’t torque and smash into the building on its way down  –  I was shaking with my camera and I wasn’t even the one pulling on the tree or wielding the chainsaw!  Though the limbs had rot and fissures, the trunk was still very solid and a beautiful slab was cut and saved for me. That’s all that’s left of this massive oak, aside from saw dust. I’ve set it aside in a sheltered and shady spot to dry slowly so it won’t crack.

I was surprised by all the stars I could see last night and the bright sky this morning… new plants will grow.

 

Felling of the Oak

 

So……this was happening above my studio today…..so nothing much was happening within it.

I knew this chainsaw vs oak day was coming after the crown of this massive oak toppled recently.  Even though the arborist said it was best to take it all the way down, that it would never be a healthy tree again, I was still sorry to see it go. The sadness was mixed with fear and fascination as I watched this modern day lumberjack scale the precarious tree limbs with his chainsaw, cinches, pulleys and ropes and take this centurion down – a death by a thousand cuts.

The three major limbs were shaved off today for firewood – the trunk comes down tomorrow.

Sigh!

You might wonder why this has a place on my art blog…I think art comes from being aware of your surroundings, being curious, being observant, being in touch with your feelings and honoring the moment.