A Small Orchard

Johnson Family Tree, 48" x 72", 2009, mixed media on hand-stretched canvas

I met the Johnsons in their living room over iced coffee on an early summer day to talk to them about their painting. After a few hours, I had so much more than a list of favorite colors or hobbies. I learned about their summers in Point Clear, about unfinished peach jam made by grandma, about dirt floor corner store memories and the rise and fall and rise again of a couple cultivating real love. I returned to my studio with my notes, and what followed became a journey for me too. I sat in the neighborhood pool, at my kitchen table, in the park, at the coffeeshop and tried to sketch the tree that might come to respresent this family. What resulted was a study of tree roots, white-blooming flowers, roots music, blues, country, swamp, funk, the changing light after a storm, care-instructions in soil, and the long stretching branches of a sturdy trunk tree at the center of it all. I photographed the painting on my porch before delivering it to the Johnson Family, where it now lives. I think about my experience with the Johnsons this summer and can't help but wonder, who's next?

To talk with me about a tree painting for you or your family, please write or call me at 504-669-8667.

Below is a small orchard of other tree paintings I have made.

Lemon Tree, 48" x 72", 2009, mixed media on hand-stretched canvas, SOLD

Sunday Tree, 48" x 72", 2009, mixed media on hand-stretched canvas, SOLD

Bayou Tree, 48" x 72", 2008, mixed media on hand-stretched canvas, SOLD


Couvillon Family Tree, 48" x 72", 2009, mixed media on hand-stretched canvas