Artist’s Statement

My work comes from the silent spiritual calm of forest, and from the distinctive tree tunnels and live oak allees of the Carolina lowcountry, land of my ancestors. The ancient live oak tree curves and dances her way from the dark loamy earth while she reaches for the light. My paintings are about the path I see in the forest.

Joseph Campbell, the great mythologist, taught that to forge one’s own path is to go where no one has gone before. The medieval legend of Parzival was about the metaphor of finding The Grail, which is our way in this world.

So it is within the great darkness of the maritime forest that I see light, and take my inspiration. The tunnel is a beginning, like birth. It is even erotic, like lovemaking. But this work is about the place that one finds alone. Physical glimpses of it shine through these tree branches, as colors from the sun and moon make lace in the leaves and branches and earth. The kingdom is spread upon the earth, some say. This is where I see it.

– Charlotte Hutson Wrenn. May 3, 2013