PIPLANTRI

Over the past 20 years I have been making drawings and paintings

among hundreds of aspen trees in the forests near my home in SW Colorado. 

Last year I was invited to be the featured artist at the Ah Haa School for the Arts

New Year's Eve Fundraiser Gala. I had the entire gallery to fill with my paintings 

and with the poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer an opportunity to collaborate

on an installation created specifically for the event. 

Six years ago the residents of Piplantri in Rajasthan, India, started planting

111 trees for each girl child born. Shyam Sundar Paliwal, former village head,

started this initiative in memory of his daughter Kiran. 

To ensure the financial security of the child, parents and members of the community 

are responsible for the care of the trees and are required to contribute money

to an account for the girls' education. She is not allowed to marry until the age of 18.

I told Rosemerry about Piplantri, that I wanted to make 111 small drawings of the aspen trees 

and she immediately said, "Of course, I'll write 111 poems!" 

 A section of Piplantri, 111 mixed media works on paper and poems on recycled vintage papers

Snow on Aspens, India ink and gouache drawing

Piplantri works in progress in the studio

Me and Rosemerry on New Year's Eve 2019 at the Ah Haa School for the Arts in Telluride, CO!

Thank you Ah Haa School for this opportunity and a special Thank You to
Kris Kwasniewski for designing the installation and hanging each poem and painting!