I was lucky enough to grow up in a home that was surrounded by forests. Watching those trees change through the seasons... dropping their leaves, snow on their branches, buds forming, the spectacular fall colours ... was like watching an ever evolving story. Each one is unique in their structure, appearance and make up. Trees have to be my #1 design/decor inspiration...whether it is a great piece of art capturing their true natural aesthetic, a piece of driftwood on a beach, a colour inspiration from a single leaf or a piece of weathered barn board.....I use trees as jumping off points in every form they may be found in..and..through the products they offer.
The picture above was taken while I was walking along the river here in Guelph. It was shortly after sunrise and this picture perfectly illustrates the natural wonder and lines that only something in nature could provide....this is one of my favorite photos and I find myself drawn to it ...drawn into it....every time I look at it.
The way the snow clings to the branches....almost like frozen, sparkling pom-poms...this picture was taken at my parent's home on one of my walks through their forest. The marriage between the snow and the trees is again, only something that nature could do.
There is something about pine trees in Northern Ontario. This picture was taken just outside of Kenora Ontario, on Lake of the Woods. These large, majestic pines cover entire islands, grow in ways unlike any pine in the south due to the wind and weather of the north....but to me, they represent a piece of my childhood. We spent every summer on Lake of the Woods and there were huge pines outside my bedroom window. I would fall asleep every night to the sound of their branches swishing against my window and I would spend my days collecting pine cones, trying to avoid the sap that had dripped from their branches and collected on the blanket of needles that had fallen to the ground beneath them.
This picture is taken from a chair lift on a ski vacation to Lake Louise. Yes, the Rocky Mountains in the background are spectacular, but the trees in the foreground completely catch my eye....their tall, skinny stature, a necessity at those altitudes, and their abundance on the mountain-side complete the majestic and rustic beauty of the West.
The picture above speaks for itself. The colours, the bare bones of the tree covered in a shimmering hoar frost....that morning was so incredibly beautiful that I had to pull my car over and take some pictures!
The next 4 pictures are not mine but they ellicit an emotional response from within....the natural and wild beauty of trees almost hypnotizes me....
Whether it is the smooth, silver bark of a birch or the rough, rugged bark of a walnut...each species, type and kind of tree provides their own inspiration through texture, colour and form. The way they bend in the wind, cradle the show in their branches, the fluid motion of their leaves in the breeze and their quiet beauty...they definitely are one of the elements in nature that get better with age.
Trees are your best antiques. ~Alexander Smith
