Tulip Tour

In the Netherlands, during a long-anticipated “Tulip tour”, I was fascinated with what “the dutch” also did with the Linden Tree.  This tree has a handsome natural shape that complements Holland canals and windmills.  But, it has an unusual characteristic in that, when a limb is broken or cut, branches grow out of the scar giving the tree much more longevity and also expands the size.  That quality gives ideas to locals to sculpt all sorts of creative hedges and landscapes.

Sara and I also visited Zeist for Easter. Zeist is a Moravian Settlement village from the early 1700s, an extension of Moravian influence from Herrnhut Germany.  Can you see the analogy here? Growth of this little church expanded across Europe and around the world not unlike the Linden tree spreading multiple branches from a “broken limb”?  This example from my sketchbook will be used in my Art Exhibit at Moravian University in November.

Oh, and the Tulips?   Spectacular!