It seems to me that in every region or part of the world that I go to, there are always particular types of trees that evoke the mood of the region. In some places it is the grandeur of the largest trees of the horizon that captivate imaginations such as the large Redwoods in the American West Coast or the Mahogany giants of Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda. In other places the idiosyncratic flavor of the people are personified in the strange and unfamiliar fauna. In Ecuador's Galapagos and among the mainland of South America were large trees that resemble a pine at the trunk, but strangely meta-morphs into a large cactus tree in the boughs above.
I have long had an affinity for trees of all kinds, and has been a common subject matter for doodling since I was a child. Like people, each tree is an original manifestation of its surroundings and time in place. No two trees, even with the same DNA, look the same. Plants are phenomenal in the way they all begin with an appearance so similar as sprouts, but the longer they age the more characteristic and distinct it becomes. Very much like people's individuality and body, which is constantly changing, but at such slow pace that it goes unnoticed day to day.
Here in Tennessee there are very varying and flourishing woods, but the south is home to one majestic tree that seems so unique in its appearance and one which I have always enjoyed. It is hard to visit Nashville and not see massive Magnolia trees with their sprawling branches, shell like leaves and massive white blossoms.
Magnolia Tree, Nashville (South view), 2016. Vandyke Brown Print.
In age, they seem to dominate the space that contains them, but like the willow tree in a gentle and caressing way. Their root systems seem to hold the very earth together, and the shade they produce is so heavy that the grass (except hardier bluegrass) cannot grow under the weight. Even during the noon sun only a few streaming strands of light may reach the growth beneath.
Magnolia Tree, Nashville (East view), 2016. Vandyke Brown Print.
Here is a collection of studies and Van Dyke Brown prints of a Magnolia tree near my home, in hopes of sharing the mysterious and calming space of the trees.
