“Forget your sunscreen today, Harry?”

ORIGINAL SOLD

The original of this piece won a purchase prize at the Winthrop, Maine  Art Festival in 2010.  A Purchase Prize is a wonderful thing, because it means that at the beginning of the day you know one of your original trees has sold…and gets to wear a beautiful ribbon all day.  This original went all the way to Canada! 

Birch trees reign in the top five of my favorite trees to draw…for several reasons.  One, because they’re full of black knots, lines, marks, and irregularities that jump out as facial features; two, because they’re simply beautiful in every season;  and three,  because everyone has known or loved a birch at some point in their life, and when I draw them people identify with them.   Since my love of trees more often than not personifies the trees in my drawings, it was a short leap to imagine white trees getting sunburned in the heat of summer.  As for the Harry…well, I had a client who thought I was chosing names because of specific men in my life.  Believe it or not, that hasn’t happened yet, but it certainly is a direction where I could easily go.  For now, Harry is just Harry, who got just a wee bit too much sun.

• Artwork by: Susan Elliot