Busy Beauties: Roots, Trees, & Vines

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American Friends!

Walking around town Land Trust property today, I shot tons of photos of the barren November trees and landscapes, vividly hung with vines like strings of Christmas lights gone awry. Very few leaves remain, but those that do are hardy and were all in the yellow/gold color range. 

I admit it, I'm not a minimalist in any way, shape or form. I like busy patterns. My art is very intricate and layered, my apartment hasn't a square inch of space that isn't holding a collectible or a piece of art, and I tend to wear plaid shirts with camouflage-patterned pants and striped socks. I have twenty-seven rugs in six rooms, and I actually feel nervous around cleanly styled, well-ordered spaces. I live and sleep with the television on in the background like white noise, with music softly playing simultaneously from my computer as I read or write. The only time I like it quiet is when I'm walking around outside. I like the sights and smells and sounds of nature, and have never used a Walkman or iPod. It doesn't matter if I'm just passing trees in the woods or crowds of people on a sidewalk, I enjoy hearing the actual world around me. I found solace today shooting these visual representations of the busy and intricate multi-layered thoughts running through my head on this crisp, late November afternoon. 

I hope you enjoy these busily beautiful images. They may be barren of life-sustaining leaves, but they're filled with wild abandon, unchained and unplugged, unapologetically willy-nilly. Like me! Please click on the images to see all of the details and lighting intricacies.

There are maps of freeways in Los Angeles that look just like this.

I see muscular arms wrapping around equally muscular bodies. Body-building Woodland Nymphs, lol?

The lighting in this shot is striking. The light-barked tree in the background had the sun directly shining on it, and the darker colored trees were shadowed, for a double-whammy of contrast. 

The red and yellow seed pods of this Bittersweet Vine, 100 feet in the air at the top of this tree, contrast beautifully with the deep Wedgewood blue sky and dark branches and limbs.

Thick rounded protuberances add a whimsical touch to this tree trunk. I think it was winking at me. Or burping.

Another example of lighting adding a great contrast to these different types of trees. The Bittersweet Vine highlighted two images above, can just be seen in the background at the top of the tree in the center of this photo. Snow White's Enchanted Forest?

This toppled tree's exposed roots have created a natural shelter underneath. The leaves are tamped down inside, almost nest-like. I'm sure that this is the equivalent of a Motel 6 for our animal friends. I might go back there with some of my garden gnomes and do a photoshoot of them hanging out under these roots and branches.

I never tire of trying to follow the swirls and whirls of vines and limbs. Nevah!

This photo looks like a Jackson Pollack painting to me. Maybe he was inspired by a long-ago November's Roots, Trees & Vines.