‘Between the Trees’

Hand Burned original on spalted Maple

Scroll down for a closer look at ‘Between the trees’, and information on all the components.

Created from impulse early this spring: I made this piece as a means of escape. Shirking my other responsibilities and choosing to get lost in the art instead; using it as a means to dissociate from the stress of different situations all closing in on me at once.

I use my art as a way to cope, channeling frustrations into something I have complete control over- for the most part. Even if the piece isn’t going my way or coming together easily, it’s still a ‘good frustration’- something I enjoy working through unlike those other real life responsibilities.

This is my second largest piece to date- just a bit smaller than ‘Beary Season’, and As usual it took me much longer than I had anticipated- but I’m very happy with how this one turned out.

The inspiration for this piece came from the wood itself; the patterns from the spalted maple reminded me of dead trees still standing with the bark still cliunging to the dead trunks. I wanted to honour the piece and the natural patterns of the grains and markings, and incorporate them in as part of the final vision.

Like 'Beary Season’, this piece is comprised of a collage of the local plants and animals I encounter on my excursions- over 15 different local species.

The middle of the piece features a collage of different plant and animal species.

This side of the piece features a brown creeper and Polypores on a dead tree marked by insects

The wolfs eyes seem to follow you around the room as you move.

Another chickadee along the top side of the piece.

A squirrel looking at you while perched on the tree. The foliage includes mtn anemones, ferns, daisies and more.

The natural spalting pattern of the wood reminded me of two dead trees, and became the very inspiration for the piece.

A chipmunk on a branch with yarrow and a swallowtail butterfly in the background

A fieldmouse and a silkmoth among the daisies other wild foliage

Insects are hidden throughout the piece.

Here you can see the natural markings on the wood from the spalting. This piece was a lot of fun as I started with using the patterns the placement and burning of all the animals first, and then later filled in the gaps with all the different types o

The wolf: One of my most popular subjects.

I quite enjoy creating wolf pieces- they have an easier fur texture and colouring to replicate in comparison to the bears and cats, however I am quite picky about how they look in the face- sometimes they

Chickadee’s once again take the top spot on the piece. British Columbia is home to four species of chickadees: the Black-capped, Chestnut-backed, Boreal, and Mountain Chickadee. The Black-capped Chickadee has the most extensive range throughout the p

Another squirrel as a feature, always present in my pieces just as they’re always present in the woods. We have a few different species here in the Kootenay’s, Grey squirrels and Red squirrels- and those are the actual names, not the descriptions. Al

Among the flowers we have a swallowtail butterfly. The largest butterfly in BC and my personal favourite. They are probably everyones favourites- they are huge in comparison to the other butterflies and beautiful vibrant yellows. Swallowtails only li

We have another chipmunk- of which we have four species here in BC: The Yellow-pine Chipmunk, the Red-tailed Chipmunk, the Townsend's Chipmunk, and last but not least- the Least chipmunk.

Chipmunks can be found in trees, however they’re primarily a

Growing on the dead trunk are polypores- specifically tinder conks. I did stick these on the dead pine on the piece which is totally illegal because they would actually be growing on birch instead- but we can swap that pine concept out in our minds a

On the right is a “White-lined sphynx moth”, aka a “hummingbird Moth”. It’s quite large and feeds on flower nectar, often being mistaken for hummingbirds with it’s fast beating wings and ability to hover.

The little bird on the bottom right is called a “Brown Creeper”. It’s a small inconspicuous song bird that lives in mostly conifer forests. They are well camouflaged and very hard to spot as they climb up the trunks of trees hunting for small insects

Theres a few different mixed florals in this piece:
Oxeye daisy's- one of my favourite additions to my pieces. It's a noxious invasive weed that chokes out native plants, but it adds such a nice little splash of white to the ditches and hills it's ha

The chickadees are situated along some leafy birch branches with their little cones- which are actually not called cones, but “catkins”. We have a couple different birch species here in BC, the most distinguishable being the “Paper Birch” with its br

The moth on the bottom right is a silk moth: Giant moths with velvety rich looking wings of browns, white and reds, and on their plump little bodies they sport a beautiful and extravagant little fur coat that extends all the way down their legs. And

Hiding in the Bottom left corner is a 'Pacific Tree Frog'. These little guys can be green, brown, or grey. I’ve found them in trees, in my plant pot outside, and in my friends watering can outside- although they don’t live in water like other frogs a

The fern.

The Mountain Holly fern.

The soon to be extinct Mountain Holly Fern.

It only grows in three tiny areas throughout the entirety of Canada, and one of those three places and the only place it grows in the Western half of the country is ri

The total size for this piece measures 24" tall x 13" across the top x11.5" across the Bottom x 1" thick.
It's not "live edge" however it is not a defined slab either as there is some natural outer edge of the trunk on the top left.

‘Between the Trees’

'Beary Season'

Wildlife on wood

Jaydlyn Joan