I'm obsessed with a certain massive sycamore tree living by the Potomac River near our home and visit it often. Recently it crept into my subconscious, and I began a whole series of paintings. I have tried to paint it's dignity and majesty as well as the small deaths and growth, the resilience that is apparent in the face of drought, flooding, erosion. pollution and wind conditions. I see this tree as a microcosm of the earth as well as an allegory of our lives. The figures who pose in tandem with the tree become a testament to the deep emotional and symbolic connection that humans can have with nature.