My Fascination with Trees

Do you ever get stuck on a theme?  For me, I often start on a subject and keep working in that subject over and over for a while.  The theme this summer has been trees.  Trees are such fascinating subjects for me.  The term “Tree of Life;” is so literally true when you think about all of the different ways that trees support life – form the majestic eagle down to the lowly termite.  I sold my latest tree to a wonderful family this past weekend in Banner Elk.  Their joy and excitement with it really rejuvenated me and my excitement.  They sent me a picture of it hanging in their beautiful home.  Here is their tree.  I am so grateful that they sent me this photo of it in it’s new home.  

Another tree that I recently completed was for a friend who wanted a tree with birds in it.  We recently hung this piece in her kitchen.  Birds are another fascination for me and I loved creating this piece for her.  

When I look at birds, my mind always returns to the Bible verse about God’s care for the sparrow.  During the Depression, my grandfather Pope had a small store that he ran in the community.  He was a very caring and generous man and he could not bear to see families going hungry so he continued to issue his neighbors food on credit even though he knew they could not pay him.  Eventually he reached the end of his ability to provide for them.  He was very distraught over how he would provide for his family of 8 people for whom he was the only provider.  While out in the field trying to start a new field, he set a fire to burn off the brush so he could plow.  One area of the field refused to burn even though it was thick with brush.  When he went to investigate the problem, he found a small nest of sparrows.  He fell to his knees weeping and praising the Lord because he knew that God had sent this to him as a sign that his family would be okay.  Because if God could protect these few sparrows, he knew God would protect his family.  I am very grateful for God’s protection and for the example of a godly grandfather who loved his family and loved his Lord.  Here is Libby’s tree window.