Tree Spirits

I love photographing trees and I have a fondness for tree knot holes, especially those which have interesting shapes and textures.

As a child I would imagine all sorts of magical beings living in these holes, and would place little treasures inside as gifts.

Now that I am older, I have discovered there are subtle images and shapes lurking in the places between light and shadow within these knot holes. Below is a sketch of a knot hole near our home.

Tree Spirit – Digital Combined Mixed Media

In towering splendor once I stood
A regal monarch of the wood,
My branches once reached to the sky
See me now but do not cry.
The Creator’s work has yet to cease
I’ve become a shelter for bird and beast,
And when at last I fall to the Earth
The life I leave will inspire new birth;
A seedling springs forth from the ground
Nature’s cycle goes round and round.
– S. Edward Palmer, Spirit Tree