Story behind the art of Lucy Martin

26th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists and Marin Art and Garden Center

Grandmother Madrone

Arbutus menziesii

Every now and then, I come across in my wanderings a branch, a tree, or a forest scene, that calls me to make a painting. No planning or effort of imagining the painting is required: the painting is just there, waiting to be brought to life.

This very large, old madrone was such a painting. I was on a walk with a friend in a state park in Santa Rosa, California, where I live. We had gone off on some small, unmarked trails through the woods. We came around a corner, and there was this tree: bigger than any madrone I had seen, and striped! The weathered, cracked gray under-layer revealed by the splitting of the deep red outer bark, created an extraordinary, striped look, spotted with pale green lichen.

I have always loved madrones, with their vivid red/orange/purple bark and smooth, sinewy look. You often see this smooth outer layer splitting as the tree grows, revealing the rough-textured gray layer underneath. But I had never seen such a large madrone, and it was love at first sight.

I always planned to return to visit this tree, perhaps making more paintings of it. But I could never find it again. I searched and searched, hiking all the trails in the area. It’s possible the tree burned in one of the fires in the next few years that incinerated parts of the park. I’m glad I saw this remarkable tree.

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Read more about this artist’s work: 25th Annual