Many of the trees that I’ve been drawing and painting for the last few months are standing on the grounds of Vanderbilt arboretum .  They are becoming as familiar, and as mysterious, as old friends.

After my daily observations of these creatures over a period of time, they reveal their names to me. These old souls have ancient names.

Cerberus is a painting I finished a couple of weeks ago (mid-May 2020).  I have observed this tree many times against an evening sky of deep pink light.  There are centuries of images illustrating this mythological dog guarding the gates of hell.  My rendering is just another interpretation to add to a very long queue.

Didymus, in my last post, is a lone tree standing at the edge of a parking lot.  Whether an ancient Greek philosopher or a Christian apostle, he is  a Stoic who sometimes lacks conviction, 

Charon is a riverboat watchman who ferries points of light across the darkness.

Casper, whether a king, scholar, or priest, is wise and other-worldly. Perhaps the creators of the cartoon, Casper the Friendly Ghost, felt the same about their character… I wonder?

Pontos is  a primordial sea creature.   Its leaves blow about and fall in pools of golden ochre and raw sienna, resembling schools of shiny fish.

Bolbe stands at Radnor Lake State Park.  In ancient Greek mythology, Bolbe was a beautiful sea nymph who lived in the Macedonian lake, and mothered a long line of fresh water nymphs.  Thousands of years later, she moved to Tennessee.