Juniper Tree

Finally finished this painting. It's an acrylic on canvas I've been slowly working of for the past year and a half. I made the canvas using extra cloth from a tee pee. I stretched it over some extra red wood that was lying around my dad's place. It's taken over 15, 2 to 4 hour sessions. It's got playa dust in it from the black rock desert and has been worked on to live music at high sierra music festival. Not to mention many an art and wine night in my neighborhood.

This is a juniper tree like the ones that grow on the passes around here. There's more to a tree than just what you see. I wanted to show like a cross cut. A deeper look. These trees have deep roots to keep them from being pushed over. Everything twists out from the burl. Part of it reaching deeper into the earth. Moving rocks and looking for water. Part of it reaching high into the sky to eat as much sun shine as possible. It's kind of idealistic California. The sky is super blue with no con trails. The veins of rock are undisturbed by machinery and still hide fossils that tell an even older story. Even the top soil and duff layer are undisturbed and still provide habitat to snow flowers. The tree is perfectly healthy with no intrusions from bugs or scared broken limbs. There isn't even a sign of a fire in this tree's history. It lives in a perfect world. It's a happy little tree as Bob Ross would say.