Brave & Broken Birch by Tabitha Seaton

 

I have always been fascinated by the unique birch tree.

It sheds its exterior in the winter making it vulnerable to the cold.

The brisk white contrast of it's nakedness against the common dark crust of the common bark covered trees is a rare site to see. It stands alone unafraid against the cold wind and snow. 

ANYWAYS...

This project was for school, but I got a little carried away with making it deeply personal to my life...

Isn't that what REAL art is anyways? Taking what is inside our heart and brain and bringing out into the open as a way of communicating your emotions or ideas? Well, I have been pretty emotional lately! I have been pretty exposed, naked sort of emotionally... I am feeling older and braver, having learned so much this past year. Death has created life, loss of love has taught me lessons that I could have not learned otherwise. So, this is what came out....

I have wanted to do this assignment of years that I found on

http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/2011/01/10/birch-trees-watercolor-lesson/

I was just to chicken to do it until this year. 

It is pretty in depth, but if broken down into step-by-step it can be simple.

It takes a lot of teaching and reteaching daily with daily individual instruction 

 

I crafted this assignment for my class to work on at school.

The finished result of My first attempt (5 years ago)...
when I was too scared to actually attempt it with my kids!
I learned a lot by opening up and experimenting with them this year on this project.
There were some enexpected hurdles we had to overcome
(ripped paper, torn paper, un-blending ink, and more! YIKES!)
But "branching" out and trying new things, being fearless and willing to losen my bark a little paid off in the end.