05/26/2026
Big Ole Tree, a Tennessee Oak,2026
this tree’s ink itself, walnut ink, green earth, woad, Tennessee soil, acryliks, graphite, Storm Fern ice, and acrylic on canvas, 24” x 36”
A part of the recent exhibition, Big Ole Tree is a several hundred year old Oak sentient being found in Middle Tennessee woods, my dad’s favorite tree. He taught me to love trees and plants like family, and the Big Ole Tree was fundamental in seeing plant life in this way.
Dad told me many stories about the tree over the years. He tried to visit it, advocate for it, protect it, get the greenway path in town to have a detour to it. He would update me, and after a huge tornado, a couple of the most enormous branches were ripped off. These branches the size of their own several century old trees themselves. He was heartbroken by it, and through it all, the tree still stood proud and strong (even with a hole where the branch once was).
Not long after my dad’s death, I found an envelope in a wooden box that he kept his treasures in. The envelope said, “pix of the Big Ole Tree” and my pet name, Lee. I carefully opened the envelope to find all those pictures of me and the tree from decades ago, with a phone number of the Arbor Society on it. And of course, tears and joy rolled down my cheeks. He had left me to take care of his favorite tree, to carry on his legacy, and he deeply knew, in my tenacity, that I would fight for the “Big Ole Tree.”
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