Ciprés

 

Ciprés 

watercolor, gouache on 300# Arches, 20" x 50"

  Ciprés y Nubes

Ciprés y Tristeza

The cypress tree, in classical times, symbolized mourning. It was associated with death and the underworld because it failed to regenerate when cut back too severely. Today it remains the principal tree in cemeteries in both the Muslim world and Europe.

Ovid recorded the myth of Cyparissus. In the story he kills his beloved stag. His grief and remorse were so inconsolable that he asked to weep forever. He was transformed into "cipressus sempervirens", the Meditteranean cypress tree. The tree's sap represents his tears.

The winter of 2013/2014 in Northern Spain was where I painted the small on-site paintings

of cypresses, in the Parque del Ebro and also in the cemetery in Logroño.

These larger works were just completed in my studio in Ridgway.