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Here lies our precious friend and fellow giving tree.
She was reduced from her former beauty.
Cut down, rings before her time.
While we will remain, we will wave in her memory.
But perchance you have a moment,
Stop and sit awhile.
Admire what she left you;
Above her grave.
Lo now, Lookup, up to the sky:
a beautiful view, a starry nigh'.
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"Requiem of Trees" was inspired by one of the most memorable books of my childhood called "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein.
It's a story about being grateful, taking advantage of people and what it means to love unconditionally.
If you would like to purchase the book here is a link below:
We take so much for granted. In some ways, the poem that goes with the painting is about our green spaces and our choices to take care of the plant.
A few years ago, while I was still living in the United States, my favourite tree in England was cut down. It so happens that tree stump is in Cassiobury Park, which is just a block from my current studio resonance. I felt compelled to give it a marker because it inspired a study painting called "Jacob's Tree", which got destroyed in our move to the United Kingdom. I was devastated both for the work, for my tree. I felt Vincent Vangoh sad about the whole situation altogether. I HAD Plans for that tree!
Andy-ways, while I was painting my now favourite stump on sight, I thought about how Vincent said that Starry Night was one of the only things he painted from memory, and he felt that it would have never come to amount as much in the art world. Little did he know that his most famous iconic work was the thing he thought was shit.
Laughing in a middle of a park field by and to myself, I thought that the above inspired me to imagine: Because now my 500-year-old tree is gone, there is a lot more sky and stars that used to be covered by the trees former canopy. Creating a new version of Vanghy crazy sadness in stars.
Yeah, this pice, it's a bit piggy back-y. But I am okay with it because that's exactly where my thoughts and feelings were when I made the artwork.
This painting was displayed in the Vanderplas Gallery and won a slot in a juried show as best poetic picture in 2018 and was recently displayed in Casso Metro Estate summer 2021.
The original work, a printed and matted copy of the poem, and its frame are included in the purchase price.