Tree Portraits

I love trees! Once in a while you'll find a tree that deserves to have its portrait done. I found this beauty in Apalachicola, Florida. It's in the front of a dentist's office, so when a woman stopped by to watch me paint, and she said, "Oh! You're painting the Doctor's Tree", I assumed she meant the dentist. "Oh, no," she said. "Back in the '20's, there was an old doc who took a dislike to this tree for some reason, and every time he got drunk, he would ram his Model T into the trunk!" I guess not everybody loves trees like I do.

Not only did I love the beautiful curves and angles of the branches of this live oak, but I liked the Resurrection Fern growing on the top of one of them. Resurrection Ferns can look like they've completely dried up and turned brown, but with the first sign of a shower, they rise up green as they can be. Come to think of it, a little like a frustrated painter!