A week ago I returned from a 5-day trip to Boston and was hit with an overwhelming wave of melancholy. Perhaps it was the thought of returning to work after a nice vacation or it could have been the realization that I am considerably unhappy with my life at this point. The bf helpfully pointed out that it is the end of the month and (something new I learned) he usually makes it a point to give me "extra space" around this time. Maybe it's a combination of all three. 

 

I have since recovered (albeit not yet fully) enough to do something to help my bout of dispiritedness.

So here it is...my creative outlet.

 

These images are pieces of an art project I created for class (circa 2007). Trees have always held a special place in my heart. I am fascinated by the shapes, sizes, and colors they take and I find myself constantly admiring all their forms, sometimes providing verbal praise to anyone who will listen. So naturally, I decided to do a surface study of them. In a period of two weeks and an hour or two daily (not including weekends since those were reserved for sun bathing and house parties), I came up with these three studies. The trees are selected from the immense landscape of the UCSD campus in La Jolla. If you once roamed UCSD, you may remember someone propped in the middle of the quad or squatting in the dirt or perched on the retaining wall with an unwieldy pad of paper on her knees and pencils in a heap beside her. That was moi. I was content with sketching away as if nothing else mattered. And nothing else did matter when I had my pad and pencils and the company of trees.

Trees, 18x24 charcoal on paper