Lark & Key
Maybe a year or two ago my family got me a woodcarving class for my birthday. This piece started out from those beginnings. Of course I started my woodcarving with carving out crescent moons. How I love the moon. When you look up significance of the crescent moon through the ages in different cultures, it seems that humans saw that smile in the sky and saw the crescent as a beacon of hope.
I decided to finally start combining handcarved wood with encaustic. Which was the idea from the beginning. It takes me a while at times to finally give a glimmer of an idea time in the studio. I stained the wood and added a thin layer of encaustic medium. On the rest of the wood panel, I turned to this tree image that I have been obsessed with lately. I see this treetop every time I take my dog for a walk.
When I use a certain tree image more than a few times in my artwork I honestly feel like I form a relationship with that tree. I know it so well. So when I see it in real life, it’s like saying hello to a close friend. When I see this treetop on my walks, I do feel a sense of homecoming. That’s not quite the right word. But it’s a warm feeling. I wonder if whoever owns the plot of land where that tree calls home would think it’s odd that someone loves their tree so much. It’s kind of funny to think that I know the trees in my neighborhood better than I know my neighbors.
This piece has been framed and is currently available at Lark & Key in Charlotte, NC.