Trees Of The Field

This is a new piece done with India ink. I loved how the trees look like they are singing joyfully. They are all lined up, as if they are playing follow the leader and dancing. As I was working on this, a song I haven't sung since I was a teen at First United Methodist Church of Carrollton kept running through my memory.  It was called TREES OF THE FIELD and here is just 1 verse of the Lyrics..

You shall go out with joy

And be let forth with peace,

And the mountains and the hills

Will break forth before you

There'll be shouts of joy

And all the trees of the fields

Will clap, will clap their hands

Trees Of The Field
by Cheryl Harris White
India Ink on Canvas Paper, Framed
12" x 48"
$250.00

Memories

Memories
Acrylic and Collage on Canvas
by Cheryl Harris White
3 ft x 3 ft
$200.00
In our yard in Ohio, when I was a child, there was a huge weeping willow tree.  Under it, my little sister and I used to play for hours and have tea parties.  We moved to Texas, when I was 8 years old and I have never returned,  but I remember it like it was yesterday,  and those moments were the inspiration behind this piece.  

Courtney's Tree Collage Video

A Tree For Courtney
Acrylic Collage
3' x 4'
by Cheryl Harris White

My daughter wanted a large collage of a tree and one of her favorite poems by Robert Frost to decorate her bedroom.  She wanted it to be whimsical.  This video shows the steps as we progressed through the project.  I painted the background and the basic sketch of the tree and she chose words from magazines that she liked.  The words she chose were... 

"Learn,A fresh start, Brilliant, Friends, New, Sport, Bloom, Green, Original, Unleash, Fairy tale, Sweet, Fresh, Dream, Love, Fun, Together, Life, Imagine, Your moment, Hearts on Fire, Adored, Rhapsody, Real," and of course, the poem itself.  The tree is a collage of both scraps from magazine and dried acrylic paint.  This was the result. Enjoy!

All Together Now! Four Trees Series

Autumn, Spring, Summer, Winter (left to right) 
Four Trees Series
Four canvases 12" x  24"
Acrylic Collage on Canvas
by Cheryl Harris White
Not For Sale

Autumn Tree - Painting 4 of Four

Autumn Tree
Acrylic Collage on Canvas
12" x 24"
by Cheryl Harris White


The words inspiring this tree are worthy, love, beautiful, color, believe.  Strong sturdy long lasting autumn words. I love the different colors of leaves I found for this one and all the red I found for the trunk. This one is my favorite one out of all four.  Which one is your favorite?

Summer Tree - Painting 3 of 4

Summer Tree
Acrylic Collage on Canvas
12" x 24"
by Cheryl Harris White

For Summer Tree, the colors on the tree are much warmer at the top and cooler at the bottom.  The words of summer are... Magic, Experience, Home, Gift, Abundance, Design and True.  The dark purples and blues at the roots  invoke the feeling of laying in the shade of the tree on cool damp grass .   As your eye follows the branches upward toward the top, the crimson, red and hot pink leaves set the tree afire, glowing in a blaze of summer heat.

Spring Tree...Number 2 out of 4

Spring Tree
Acrylic Collage
12" x 24"
by Cheryl Harris White

This is the second in a series of four pieces illustrating the seasons.  All four will be trees with the words that inspired my creativity worked into the roots and trunk.... Paint, Garden, Replenish, Everlasting, Journal, Understanding, Imagination, Artistry, Transformational, Creating, Tree, A symphony you can see... these are the words and phrases that really spoke to me about spring.  

The next one will be Summer... and I can't wait to share it with you.  

Winter Tree ... One of Four

"Winter Tree"
Acrylic and Paper Collage on Canvas
12" x 24"
by Cheryl Harris White
Not For Sale


This piece is one of a set of four I just started.  It was also a specific answer to a prayer for inspiration.  I combined words and colors from magazines along with acrylic paint to create this one.

"Of all the moments we gather in our lives, Those we cherish are the moments shared." is on one of the roots.  Wonder, Color, Lush are on the others.  Spreading up the trunk are the words Kindred Spirits and Understanding.  I liked the idea these concepts are the foundation of something lasting and beautiful and that is what I tried to re create in this painting.

Stay tuned for the next three.  Each one will illustrate a different season.

Abstract Tree II

Abstract Tree II
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic Collage on Canvas
18" x 18"
$75.00

"I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do."-   Willa Cather (1873-1947), O Pioneers 1913  

Confetti Forests

Confetti Forest I
by Cheryl Harris White
11" x 13"
Acrylic on Canvas

Don't these 2 paintings just feel like the trees are having a party?... The leaves look like confetti on the forest floor and balloons floating toward the sky.  


While I was painting these I asked myself the question, "If the forest trees were to throw a party, what might they be trying to celebrate?"
                                                                                

Confetti Forest II
by Cheryl Harris White
11" x 13"
Acrylic on Canvas

<sup>I thought of Isaiah 55:8 - 13 . . .


8</sup> “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. ⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.¹⁰ As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, ¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. ¹² You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. ¹³ Instead of the thorn bush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.”

Old Paint, New Art

So far, I've shared artwork which had mostly been done between 2005 and 2010.  I've really enjoyed revisiting my older paintings and documenting what I was learning as I did them...but now that I am caught up, I am equally glad to be at a point where I am looking forward...which brings us to 2011!  The rest of Paint on My Walls, is going to be about the art I'm doing now instead of looking back at art I did in the past...  Look at it like this...Up to this point I showed you art in my "BC" (Blog Catch-up) time period... and from this point on, I'll be sharing my "AD" (After Depression ) artwork.

Three Trees At Night
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic collage on Canvas
9" x 12"

I'm definitely not a daily painter yet, so I won't be posting a new painting every day like I have in the past.  But, I will be painting.... and as each one gets done, or maybe as it is in process, I'll share it.  The journey continues.

This painting is a recent painting I just finished this week entitled Three Trees At Night.  It is an appropriate illustration of the trials I've gone through over the last three years.  The three trees are actually made of dried acrylic paint I found when I was cleaning up my studio. I chipped off layers of hardened paint off my easel.  It was difficult to pry up... but as it came off in thick pieces, I noted that the texture reminded me of tree trunks.  I almost threw it all in the trash, but decided to try making trees with it instead and this painting was the result.  I love it because it is an example of how something that would have normally been thrown away became a beautiful work of art.  That's how I feel about the depression I went through.  It was ugly and hard, but God, my master artist, has used it to create a beautiful part of who I am in Him.  I am His masterpiece.