I have a friend who makes maple syrup from the trees on her land. Recently, she had a baby girl. She asked me if I would make a wall hanging in black and white of a tree to hang over her daughter’s bed. I have heard that the high contrast between black and white is one of the first visual distinctions the human eye is able to perceive. “A Maple?” I asked? “A tree.” she said.

I am working on it. I took a piece of black linen and smoothed it over a cotton muslin, natural in color, not bleached. I drew a tree in brown pastel and pinned the 2 layers together. Then sewed, changing the path of the branches as needed.

This is just the first few moments in the making of an image to hang over a crib. I thought I’d record the spareness of these few elements before I move on.