“Between every two pines
is a doorway to a new world.”
John Muir
The Bowers Home - Pinehurst, North Carolina
My college friend, Mary Lawrence, commissioned me to create Christmas gifts for each of her parents, and this is the first of the 2. This drawing was for her mother and stepfather who live in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Considering the name of the town, the name of their street (Pinewild), and the abundance of Pines in their front yard, we decided to dedicate the rendering to the Pine Tree, with color elements being its cone and needles. I was unsure of how the drawing would look, considering that the entire facade of the house is nearly completely shrouded by the trees. I think it turned out pretty well, with the home feeling protected by a blockade of pines.
I thought that this John Muir quote was appropriate and asked Mary Lawrence to have a few additional photos taken which revealed the “doorway” to the home. This is not the first time that I have used this quote. I used it for a drawing that my sister commissioned me to create of her in-laws’ farmhouse in Lake City, SC. I have not yet written that narrative, but there, I will explain its significance to their story. I also used a John Muir quote in the Cantey Falls Drawing, which I rendered in DAY and NIGHT. It read: “In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”
Perhaps it was this second quote that inspired my use of the pine quote here. Muir’s admiration and respect for Nature should be emulated by all. I think of times as a child when I explored the woods of our little neighborhood or those of friends’ and cousins’, wandering aimlessly and playing, in search of a vine to swing from, a stream to jump, or logs to use for building a fort. Nature always gave me more as a child than I was ever looking for or recognized then that I was receiving.
The more often one walks through those trees, the more doorways Nature opens, and thus, the more adventures she creates. I suppose there is a metaphor here, for even if we are not able to literally walk through two different pine trees each day, we can get up and walk nonetheless. We can choose to get out there and explore and to see what new worlds will open up for us.
Just as we might discover doorways to new worlds outside out of our homes, whether in nature or in our daily lives, so surely can we also find a doorway to a new world each time we come home. We can create new traditions, initiate a conversation, nurture a relationship, curl up with a new book (or even an old one), create something beautiful, play with a child; the list is endless.
It is up to each of us to make the effort to walk through 2 new pines each day…to find those doorways inside our homes and out. May the next 2 pine trees you see remind you so!
Pine Cone and Needles
Drawing Framed
[my home today: Columbia, SC. Drawing, writing, and willing away the flu which seems to be attacking everyone around me.]
Beautiful, Ginny. I know this was the couple’s favorite Christmas present of all.