The Sound of Trees
Judy Anderson with poetry by Ginny Hoyle
I have always loved trees. Reading Richard Power’s book “Overstory” during an artist residency at Brush Creek Arts in Wyoming inspired me to experiment with the images of trees I have created during my travels, particularly from Colorado, Wyoming and Italy. My studio process involves creating a variety of works without knowing what they might become. For me the act of finding the common thread or “story” in these disparate pieces becomes the final step in the process. In this case, it led to binding them together in book form with poetry by my long-time collaborator Ginny Hoyle.
Tree Poem 1
What is the word for
the sound of trees in a forest
blinded by night
when the lake is still?
Say the trees creak as they sway
in the north woods
while the rolling voice of the lake is stilled.
Say the trees wince in the dark and rasp
as the hands of this November wind move through.
A few leaves
turn and spin, pivot from the base of brittle stems.
Nothing else moves.
Call this is.
Ah.
This one-of-a-kind artist book is in the collection of Tom and Pat Stocker, Bethesda, Maryland.