If You Have Ever Gone To The Woods With Me

If You Have Ever Gone To The Woods With Me, I Must Love You Very Much.
Being in the woods is a sort of spiritual event for me, like being in a church might be for some. Within the woods, lessons of transformation, change, birth and decay, as well as opportunities to experience and practice presence are abundant. The experience can be beautifully silent and unforgettably powerful. 
In this body of work, I am exploring, in studies and final paintings, passing moments of pure connection to energy and joy, within our local natural world. The work was created based on the beauty found in the Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia area -  on the Rivanna Trail, the Monticello Trail and Foxhaven Farm - and deeply inspired by the work of the poet Mary Oliver. Each piece is named with lines from one of three Mary Oliver poems.

There Is A Thing In Me Still Dreams Of Trees (Rivanna Trail) - Oil on multiple wood panels - 35" x 35"

To Go Easy, To Be Filled With Light And To Shine (Rivanna Trail) - Oil on canvas - 18" x 24" 

SOLD

They Save Me Daily - Oil on canvas - 36" x 36"

I Have My Way Of Praying, As You Now Doubt Have Yours (Rivanna Trail) - Oil on multiple wood panels - 35" x 26"

The Light Flows From Their Branches (Monticello Trail) - Acrylic on canvas - 14" x 14"

SOLD


Around Me The Trees Stir In Their Leaves (Monticello Trail) - Acrylic on canvas - 14" x 14"

SOLD


And You Too Have Come Into The World To Do This (Rivanna Trail) - Oil on canvas - 24" x 36"

Walk Slowly (left) & Bow Often (right) - Oil on repurposed kitchen cabinets - 30" x 12"

When I Am Among The Trees (Monticello Trail) - Oil on canvas - 48" x 24"

SOLD

I Bend My Heart (Rivanna Trail) - Oil on canvas - 18" x 24"

When I Am Alone, I Can Be Invisible (Foxhaven) - Oil on canvas - 36" x 36"


Ordinarily, I Go To The Woods Alone (Rivanna Trail) (left) & A Little Way Away From Everywhere (Rivanna Trail) (right) - Oil on repurposed kitchen cabinet - 30" x 12"

SOLD (on the right)

How I Go To The Woods (Rivanna Trail) - Oil on canvas - 30" x 24"

Never Hurry Through The World (Monticello Trail) - Acrylic on canvas - 14" x 14"

SOLD

If You Have Ever Gone To The Woods With Me, I Must Love You Very Much (Monticello Trail) - Oil on canvas - 48" x 24"

I Can Hear The Almost Unhearable Sound Of The Flowers Singing - Oil on multiple panels - 25" x 25"

-----  THE STUDIES  -----
The Studies: Notans for There Was a Thing In Me, Still Dreams of Trees, I Can Hear The Almost Unhearable Sound Of The Flowers Singing & Green Leaves and triptych study of , I Can Hear The Almost Unhearable Sound Of The Flowers
8" x 8" - 8" x 8" - 8" x 8" and 8" x 32"
The Studies: I Really Don't Want To Be Witnessed - 6" x 6"
The Studies: Hints Of Gladness - 8" x 8"
Many of these littles have sold but a couple are left. Please contact me if interested!
The three poems that inspired the work.
How I go to the woods
by Mary Oliver

Ordinarily, I go to the woods alone, with not a single
friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore
unsuitable.

I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds
or hugging the old black oak tree. I have my way of
praying, as you no doubt have yours.

Besides, when I am alone I can become invisible. I can sit
on the top of a dune as motionless as an uprise of weeds,
until the foxes run by unconcerned. I can hear the almost
unhearable sound of the roses singing.
If you have ever gone to the woods with me, I must love
you very much.


When I am among the trees
by Mary Oliver
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”
A Dream of Trees 
by Mary Oliver
There is a thing in me that dreamed of trees,
A quiet house, some green and modest acres
A little way from every troubling town,
A little way from factories, schools, laments.
I would have time, I thought, and time to spare,
With only streams and birds for company,
To build out of my life a few wild stanzas.
And then it came to me, that so was death,
A little way away from everywhere.

There is a thing in me still dreams of trees.
But let it go. Homesick for moderation,
Half the world’s artists shrink or fall away.
If any find solution, let him tell it.
Meanwhile I bend my heart toward lamentation
Where, as the times implore our true involvement,
The blades of every crisis point the way.

I would it were not so, but so it is.
Who ever made music of a mild day?
Thank you for coming to the woods with me.
↑Back to Top