Inspiration: Bark

What is it about tree bark that so inspires? I must admit to loving trees, first off. But there’s something about the bark of a tree that excites my imagination in ways that I seem to only be able to want to express in fiber art.

I’m not sure where I took this photo, most likely somewhere in Georgia, maybe Ossabaw Island, but look at the way the cracks in this tree trunk are so beautifully and deeply etched into it. No straight lines here but organic, rippling waves of lines that I’d love to echo in cloth.

Some bark has distinct blocks that remind me of pieced quilts. Some are squarish, like this one:

And others are more rectangular, like this one:

I love the way the barks of trees are built so powerfully–they both protect the tree and offer wonderfully wonky lines for us to admire.