Still Standing

Still Standing

A friend is getting married. She is so happy and the future is so bright. She asked me to paint this for her a few years ago when things were not so certain in her life. This tree stood near her home and when she decided to move asked me to paint it for her as a souvenir. I pointed out that it had been hit by lightning and instead of painting out the damage, I would leave it in as inspiration. The tree had recovered and kept on growing a beautiful crown heading for the blue sky above. I don't paint landscapes but trees 'get to me' for some reason and I think of them more as portrait pieces. I think she may have put the painting into a back corner somewhere but the image still carries the memory and the meaning of growing through the storms.