Something About Nothing

Dragon Blood tree (day 75) is named such because it has dark red resin! I really like attempting to draw twisted trunks on trees from my head. (Day76) For day 77 I decided to take the tree from top to root! Day 78 I would rather not talk about. It's not my favorite. Mostly because my cliff was so steep that it left nothing to draw on a third of the page! I suppose I could change that. But sometimes it's just better to move on.  Day 79 is a carved stamp of a Northern Pin Oak leaf. Day 80 is a carved stamp of a Blue Gum Eucalyptus. Day 81 is a leaning lemon tree. A repeating carved olive branch brings around day 82, and day 83, is just a simple tree from my imagination.  "Old Tjikko" is a Norwegian Spruce and thought to be the oldest living tree - or at least the roots are. Click on the link to learn more about this old tree.  Day 85 is a Shagbark Hickory. Such interesting bark. Day 86 is a crazy doodle. A Cedar of Lebanon  brings us up to d...

Because of my obsession with layered mandalas,  I decided to give a layered, painted process a try with a tree for Day 66. Not my favorite.  Not sure if I will be trying that again.  Next was a copse of trees, and then a stamp of a crooked evergreen.  Both were inspired by photos I took in a cemetery.  Day 69 is several stamps inspired by leaves from a Dwarf Chestnut tree. Day 70 is a stamp as well. Just a creepy, twisty old tree, which I really love. I broke out the Pentel pigment brush pen again for day 71's Baobab tree . A redwood for day 72. An American Chestnut for day 73. Most of these beautiful trees were virtually destroyed by a blight about a century ago. The trees are what is called functionally extinct because the blight does not wipe out the roots, allowing the tree to send up new trees which are eventually wiped out down to the roots again by the blight. Day 74 is a Mangrove tree. If you have any interest in trees ...

As I draw each tree some become my favorites while others - not so much, and always for different reasons. I love the gentle arch of day 13, and the lumpy bumpy of day 14. Day 14 looks like a Shar Pei pup, or a wrinkled old person who is dancing. Day 15 is a person sitting, just waiting to get up and stretch.  Day 16 was a tiny, quickly carved stamp of many trees with not much definition, and not my favorite, but good inspiration for a future stamp. Days 17 brought out a need to do a close up, while 18 through 21 took me out for a further look. Flowering pairs are blooming and inspired the white in Day 21. Days 13 - 21

I asked for some suggestions of stamps to create and there was a lot of interest in Pinecones, Evergreen branches and Poinsettia's so I obliged. Poinsettia by Lisa Chin After creating the Poinsettia I thought it needed an outline. Poinsettia outline by Lisa Chin I like how these two work together! Poinsettia stamps together by Lisa Chin I need to try stamping all three of these stamps together next . . .perhaps on some fabric! Evergreen and baby pinecone by Lisa Chin