Living in New York City Central Park quickly became my haven, providing me with a place to connect to nature in the middle of a concrete jungle. I used to walk around with my sketchbook all the time and would stop to draw when a setting spoke to me. After doing this sketch, I knew immediately the scene needed to be painted and so I created a makeshift easel out of cardboard in oder to create the painting on site.
For the next two Sundays I was there, my gear all spread around me, communing with the tree in front of me as it framed my favorite footbridge in the park – the Bow Bridge. People would stop to watch, asking me questions about my palatte to which I could only reply how the tree was telling me what to do. The finished piece was deemed my “breakthrough painting” by an artist I admire and who is familiar with my work. As I now meditate on the entire situation I can see how this painting was a breakthrough in more ways than one.
When I visited the site over the years, I noticed at one point how the tree seemed to be slowly falling over, masking the view of the bridge. Unfortunately it did not really dawn on me what was to happen. The following year, the branches were half in the lake and then some time later I visited again only to find that the tree had been removed with only some of its roots remaining in the ground.
While I was able to save a piece of root for my altar, and of course the sketch and painting are what remains of this tree, the park conservancy planted a new one in its place. Thus the opportunity to document, through additional paintings, the cycle of life – death and rebirth – was lost for me due to a lack of foresight.
In the end, they re-configured the plantings at the shoreline and even the new tree is no longer there. But the lesson to be learned about grabbing opportunity when it presents itself because it may not be there tomorrow remains a rueful reminder on the importance of being totally present in each moment and overcome any fears we may have to challenge ourselves to act towards fulfilling our capabilities.
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Sunday In Central Park
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