A Tree Sketchbook

Old Maple Tree 

   Trees have been my life-long companions, everywhere that I have lived. I found some inexpensive sketchbooks that had paper with a good feel to it and I filled one of them with sketches of trees from different places around the country that I particularly like. All sketches are done in pen and ink.

   Some trees were met only in passing, such as the these trees on a beach near St. Augustine Florida.

   A few years ago I was on the north rim of the Grand Canyon while there were active forest fires burning in the area. Forest that had burned a few years ago had green new growth under the tall spikes of burned tree trunks. The bare and polished gray trees made a dramatic pattern against blue sky.

Here is an oak tree in Marin County, California, living on a grassy hilltop.

A row of eucalyptus trees in Marin County, California. Rows of live oaks, eucalyptus, cypress trees or allees of espaliered trees seem to invite a walk to whatever is beyond the path they shelter.

There are many beautiful trees in Victoria, British Columbia, including beech and sequoia, some quite large. This beech lives near the downtown area.

   In Wisconsin we are surrounded by many species of beautiful trees. Here are walnut trees growing on County P east of Valley.

   An elm tree garlanded with red ivy stood on the ridge on County V for many years.

   Splendid, big old locust trees filled the air with fragrance from their white flowers every spring at a friend's farm south of Hillsboro.

   The thorns on these trees were one of my favorite toys as a child. I would make chains of thorns stuck one to another. During recess at school we sat in the grass under the trees making crowns and necklaces of the locust thorns and twigs.

   Here is an old oak near my home.

      And finally, the forest of trees near Warner Creek on a winter day.

    That's my little tree sketchbook. I hope you've enjoyed meeting some of my tree friends! I'd love to  hear of special trees you know.

   Sharing this blog is appreciated. Thanks for visiting.

The Old Road Walking Into Beauty Reception

Sumac Silhouette - Walnut Ink and Watercolor on Paper

     The Old Road paintings and poetry are now on display at the Viroqua Healing Arts Center, 224 Court Street in Viroqua.
     Come by this Saturday August 10, 11am-1pm for our reception. Wander through the building and enjoy a new perspective on the Kickapoo Valley Reserve's favorite trail - the Old 131 Trail, or as we call it,
The Old Road.
    If you have seen this exhibit at VIVA or other locations, here's a chance to enjoy it again, and if you missed it earlier, this is a great time to catch up! Get your veggies at the Farmer's Market, then come on down the street and we'll inspire you to explore the Kickapoo Valley Reserve's endless beauty.
     The Old Road project includes paintings and poetry about what Joanne and I love on The Old Road, a book compiling the paintings and poems, and notecards.
     Part of all proceeds go to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve programs.

     We look forward to seeing you on Saturday!

The Old Road Exhibit at Healing Arts Center Viroqua

Bridge 13   Walnut Ink on paper - Susan Cushing

Bridge 13

For years Bridge 13 has 

     spanned the river,

withstanding high waters

     that sometimes rise

over its base.

A passageway on the Old Road,

     framing in rusts and grays,

in every season,

     the wildness of its surround.

Stepping forward over the bridge

     onto the Old Road,

one can become lost,

     absorbed into the all…

vital and free.

Joanne Adragna Shird

The Old Road Walking Into Beauty exhibit of my walnut ink paintings and poetry by Joanne Adragna Shird is now at the Viroqua Healing Arts Center in Viroqua through September. 

Stop in anytime during business hours to view the show. If you missed it at Viva gallery, come enjoy the journey through the Kickapoo Valley Reserve's 'Old 131' trail with us.

Each painting is paired with an original poem to tell of the beauty surrounding The Old Road.

This trail is the old highway along the Kickapoo River between Rockton and La Farge. Long before it was a white man's road, it was used by local peoples and long before that by all the animals that shared the valley. Walnut trees are long time residents here, and have shared their bounty and talents with humans for centuries. I chose walnut ink to represent that long connection between land and people, making the ink from walnuts gathered here. Each picture is framed in a hand made solid walnut wood frame, harvested from local trees. The walnut's lightfast durable ink has been used for centuries and so we have used it to note the continuities between people, land, river, plants and animals, through time and in place.

As I write this, that old river has risen again, to major flood stage. In the past few years the river has been making changes to the landscape with each rise and fall through the valley. Our expressions of what we know and see here every day is changing and so some of these pictures are becoming a record of a certain time in this place, maybe to be compared to a different scene in the future. This is an attribute we had not thought of when creating this project.

There will be an ARTIST RECEPTION on Saturday, August 10th between 11am and 1pm at the Viroqua Healing Arts Center, at 224 East Court Street.

Please join us to celebrate the Kickapoo Valley Reserve beauty, enjoy a unique display of art and poetry, and home made refreshments. 

Saturday is Farmer's Market day in Viroqua. Some fresh veggies and beautiful art are a good combination for your day in town!

An addition to the paintings and poetry, The Old Road Walking Into Beauty project includes note cards and a small book of the paintings and poetry. These are always available at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve gift shop, on etsy and at the Viroqua Healing Arts Center reception.

The Old Road Book

Map of The Old Road

       
  First, a warm thank you to the person who purchased The Map of The Old Road. I tried to make it feel like an old parchment map with a little bit of magic and whimsy, so that as it is examined up close, with a lamp softly shining over one's shoulder, memories and imaginings from the forest and water and sky come to mind. Maybe the thought of the walnut trees and the special places found after walking the road over and over will come to mind, and the map may feel a little more alive as the memories and dreams of the beautiful land rise up from the walnut ink's spirit embedded in the terrain of the map.
         Joanne's words so simply and clearly say what The Old Road is about, and what that path through time and landscape mean to so many people. We send this map and poem out to  hold those stories for those in the future who will look, and ponder and then go back out to walk The Old Road.

The Old Road Book

       Making a painting and poem that speaks to your heart yours to take home creates a connection between the artists and those in our community who love the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, and The Old Road.
We also made the book of all the paintings and poems, so that you can share the story easily with anyone. Books have already gone to Canada and Australia, Minnesota and Washington. They are a good way to share your experience of the KVR with someone else. VIVA Gallery and the Friends of the Kickapoo Valley Reserve gift shop in the Kickapoo Valley Reserve  visitor center have the book and you can also find it in my Etsy shop.
        We'd love to hear from you about your experiences on The Old Road. Have you walked it at night, or in different seasons? What do you like best? What are you curious about along the trail?
Maybe we'll meet someday, walking on The Old Road.

Shadow Catcher

Happy Trails,
Susan

VIVA Gallery Guest Artists for September

See you at VIVA!

     Enjoy an excellent meal at Rooted Spoon as well as all the very exciting art at VIVA
gallery anytime during September, as well as see our poetry/painting project on display.
Come for the opening; it's the most fun!

     Joann and I spent several months walking The Old Road together, sharing our art and developing this exhibit. We've published a small book of the poems and paintings too. The book is our way of saying 'thank you' to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, and to offer this whole body of work to you, to be enjoyed as any art should be; slowly, over time.

If you know the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, we hope these paintings and poems will remind you of the great gift of that land. If you have not been there, we hope that you will be inspired to go, and walk out among the marshes, hills and trees and all the beings that live there, and find your own special places of beauty.

See you on the trails!
Susan