And they seem not to break

Acrylic & gold leaf on canvas, with blue painted edges.
20" x 20”

This piece was inspired by a conversation I had in my City Market studio with a tourist from Michigan. While looking at my other birch paintings, he told me that in the winter, frequently so much snow falls onto a birch tree that it bends way over, then freezes, and stays that way for months.

Once spring comes, it naturally thaws out and gradually straightens itself up, and apparently it’s better if there’s no human involvement to “help” it along. I’ve never lived in an area with birch trees so I had no idea about this.

This idea of resiliency, and being able to bend but not break, led me to Robert Frost’s poem “Birches,” and then to make these paintings. The use of gold leaf references the Japanese practice of kintsugi: “to join with gold.”

This symbolizes that imperfections are part of life, and should not be hidden or shamed.