Spruce

Our 120 year old spruce tree came down in high winds on April 5, 2022. It was home to hundreds - maybe thousands - of birds of different species, squirrels and of course insects. The lack of sound the morning after it came down was truly remarkable, and sad to us. We loved that tree. Helena, Montana is filled with giant Blue Spruce trees and almost every year at least one comes down in a windstorm. We so often take the mature trees near our homes, for granted. Forgetting the ceiling they make, the shade they give, the habitat they provide.

I decided to honor this venerably old and very tall spruce with a tree ring print. This particular slice of trunk was about 80 feet above ground level and about 75 feet from the top of the tree.

Making a tree ring print involves first burning the surface of the cookie (slice of trunk) with a torch, then brushing the slab to remove the soft rings. Next I used akua ink on the relief surface and did a hand rubbing on medium weight washi paper. It took me a few tries to get some prints I liked. The castoffs were made into sketchbook covers by the gallery's bookbinding artist, Robin Leenhouts.

If you're a tree lover, I hope you fall in love with this memento of a venerable old tree.