Forest Critters
Exploring trails in Austin, Texas, I have noticed so many interesting, twisted, gnarly looking trees. They are both fascinating and creepy. In this series I wanted to build a strange world that's somehow both cute and creepy.
It all started with the trees
There is a type of tree in our neighborhood's hiking trails: Mesquite. It's typically short and stubby, with two inch thorns all over the branches. If you're not careful, you could be gouged pretty badly by them! I saw a tree on an evening walk, and it was the first inspiration for this series – I particularly liked its upward-stretching appearance, with its spindly branches that almost looked like a Tim Burton prop.
Silhouettes at Twilight
I tend to walk my dog (Bailey) in the evenings, when things start to take on a shadowy, silhouette appearance. The soft pink glow fading into the shadowy blue horizon has always interested me. Once I was happy with these trees, I wanted to build a forest, and with a forest, of course, comes little critters.
A strange world
Once I brought in these little critters, I could really start to have fun with this strange world. I played around with some giant mushrooms as my next addition.
