Just in Time
48 x 36 acrylic on wood panel
After hurricane Helene hit this area, it not only took homes, businesses, cars, trees, lives and the land under all of it, it also took the Autumn. The trees that were still standing had been stripped of their leaves. Many were caked in brown mud. On the heels of this, winter came, barren of life, barren of color. The utter destruction couldn’t be ignored. I wasn’t sure I could take it anymore. Living in a world not only stripped of familiar things and places but also stripped of life is heavy and sad. This was the longest winter of my life. Our neighborhood in Bat Cave, NC, in the Hickory Nut Gorge, was in one of the worst hit areas. Two thirds of the homes in our neighborhood were destroyed by the floodwaters and landslide that took homes, cars, and the land beneath them. Then, just in time, spring came, slowly at first then roaring in. It gave me hope and the ability to begin the process of accepting what had happened to my mountains and community. This is a painting I started in that long bleak winter and finished in the abundance of spring.
Dogwood trees are a symbol of our Appalachian Mountains. They’re understory trees, so in the spring, their white blooms glow in the shade of our forests. They are a wonderful resource for migrating species. In autumn their seeds provide a rich food source for birds that are about to migrate. In spring, their flowers are a source of nectar for bees, butterflies, and of course hummingbirds.
