The Trysting Tree
June 9th, 2009 § 4 Comments
In the backyard of my Dad’s house is an old tree. It’s thick trunk is gnarled and twisted, it’s wrinkles and lines are just like those etched in an old man’s face. It’s the type of tree that just begs to be drawn. So I sat in the sheltered sunshine of the garden and sketched.
One of my favourite books as a ‘tween’ was The Cuckoo Tree. I loved Joan Aiken‘s stories, they were always chock-full of smugglers, strange magic and wicked Hanoverian plots to kill the King. In the book, the tree itself was a tysting place, a place of secrets whispered in the dead of night. And the description of it is so perfect that it could be my Dad’s very tree.
I wonder about this tree’s history, about all it may have overheard, all the secret notes that may have been tucked into the hollows of it’s trunk and all the tales it could tell… if only.
There is nothing better than sketching in the garden! I can hardly wait for the weather to get a little bit warmer in Toronto.
Your tree is weathered and wise.
What a gorgeous sketch. It has been so long since I have drawn anything that I’m not sure that I still can…
Wow, that is a beautiful tree, and your drawing of it is fantastic. I really love your linework!
oh i love this….gorgeous work!!
ps. i love/d nancy drew too!