Tsuga I â“’ Michaela Harlow (Pastel on Paper)

Tsuga II â“’ 2011 Michaela Harlow (Pastel on Paper)

Tsuga III â“’ 2011 Michaela Harlow (Pastel on Paper)

The Tsuga series… Here is the complete triptych. I intend the three to hang together as they appear here. Each piece is painted on 19″ x 24″ bristol vellum. “Tsuga” is the Japanese (and botanical) word for hemlock. I am fond of hemlock trees in general, but in winter —when I find dead and broken twigs, cones and needles imbedded in melting ice— I am always taken aback by the beauty of this conifer’s skeletal branches.

***

***