The Welcome Tree–At the West End Gallery
Between two worlds life hovers like a star,
‘Twixt night and morn, upon the horizon’s verge.
How little do we know that which we are!
How less what we may be! The eternal surge
Of time and tide rolls on, and bears afar
Our bubbles; as the old burst, new emerge,
Lash’d from the foam of ages; while the graves
Of Empires heave but like some passing waves.
—Lord Byron, Don Juan
I chose the stanza above from Lord Byron’s Don Juan to kind of describe this painting because it seemed to fit so well what I was seeing in this piece.
When I look at it, the Red Tree seems to be an intermediary between differing worlds– between the solid ground of earth and the airiness of the heavens, between a life in civilization and the wide-open spaces of the fields and hills beyond, between the now and eternity, between the visible and the invisible.
Standing with one foot in either world, it becomes a moment of contemplation on the temporary nature of our existence. Standing there before the suddenly visible and unrelenting power of nature and the universe– the eternal surge of tide and time— the Red Tree recognizes its own smallness and insignificance–How less what we may be!
This idea of insignificant beings living but for a short time may seem like a dreary prospect to some. But I don’t see it that way. If anything, I see this as a celebration of just having the opportunity to bear witness to the grand spectacle of life set before us each day, to have a chance to play a part, albeit small, in the machinations of the universe.
Maybe this is too much for a simple painting such as this to bear. Maybe you will not see it in the same way, only seeing a tree, a lone figure and a house on a mound beneath an ominous sky. That’s fine because in its simplest terms that is what it is.
But even the simplest moments and images can have greater depth and meaning if we only choose to look more closely, to choose to perceive our place in the world in a different manner.
Well. that’s what I think anyway…
As I ready work for my annual solo show at the Principle Gallery in June, which is my 25th there as well as the 25th anniversary of the RedTree, I’ve been thinking about all the roles the RedTree had played in my work over the years. I often describe it as a greeter that invites the viewer into the painting or as a symbol for the individual. There are several other examples, but I like the role described in this post for a different painting, as an intermediary between differing worlds and dimensions, written back in 2016. The interesting thing is that it might well serves all these different roles at the same time.
Speaking of intermediaries between different dimensions, here’s Yo-Yo Ma playing the Prelude to Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major. That’s a mouthful but you will most likely recognize this lovely piece.
Redtree Times 