cut down trees

I've will have a new drawing exhibited tonight as part of the "Regime Change" group show at Swarm in Oakland (celebrating their 3 year anniversary)...

What's that you say? You want me to write about all the boring details of the creation of this work and my own interpretations of it? Well, if you insist:

This piece is titled "One Morning I Woke Up And I Knew That It Was On". That is the first line of lyrics from the Crosby Stills and Nash song "Carry On". update: I guess I got the lyrics wrong. Apparently it goes "...and I knew you were really gone". Oh well, I like my version better. I was listening to it while walking around Mountain View Cemetery on fine morning and it stuck. I used it the first chance I got. I also posted that one-image blog about it below. 

The drawing is the standard gouache and ink on paper bag affair that I have been into for a while now. I've been drawing trees for a long while and have experimented with incorporating stumps here and there. I've done sketches of similar trees growing from stumps in the old sketchbooks and this seemed like a good opportunity to put it out there as a final drawing. I really like the symbolism of the stump, and then with new growth. I see it in the yard all the time, except usually only with plants that I'm trying to kill. The plants I want to thrive die and the plants I want to kill keep rising from the dead. It's a new tree, but still the same tree.

I think it works in the context of "Regime Change" with the simple application of this symbol to the American presidential administration changing this year. American pride (or whatever) seems all chopped down, but here it begins to grow anew. Frankly, that's pretty thin, but it works good enough for me. 

Here are some images from the days of sketchbook past. This was before I realized that trees tend to create new growth from the outside, rather than right in the center of the rings.

Also at Swarm this evening is the opening of our buddy John Casey's solo exhibition, "Distant Cousins". Should be fantastic. There are also great shows from several other pals opening tonight all over the city. You see, this is why having everybody wanting to do their thing on First Friday can be a problem. With that in mind, Rowan Morrison will be having their next opening, "Small Ruins" by Hannah Henry, tomorrow (Saturday) night. Here is a little preview image of part of John Casey's installation in progress: