These are paintings from a much larger series done in Taos, NM and Telluride, CO of trees and landscapes. I started noticing trees years ago "Out West", when I would take walks while my husband fished. The aspens and birches are like creatures to me...a 3rd eye, a witnessing presence, with a life of their own. Their bark is abstract painterly with its graphic black splashes, and subtle hues. The magnificant bare winter branches, trunks and roots of Memphis trees also look very sculptural and animated to me.