At the beginning of this current project to focus on the trees of Saratoga, I revisited sites of previous paintings, to see how the landscape had changed and whether the trees were still there,  and whether I would find something to inspire me a second time. This empty corner at East and Bryan was the location of a wonderful willow tree in the 80’s that I painted in winter (see “Snow Willow“). As I sat and sketched I chuckled over the fact that now I was looking at a sign that said “Dead End” – maybe a sign that I should abandon the project. But I kept going with it anyway. Since a lot of my work has been about change – shifting skies and landscapes carved by natural forces — I do not see change necessarily as a negative, but as something to be understood and expressed. I plan to add a blog entry about the “lost trees” and the willow will be an example.