A while back my goal was to cover the walls of one room with gingko leaves paintings. I'm pretty close to achieving that and have been wondering why I have this obsession. Is it the memory of gingko trees, especially those very ancient ones growing on Buddhist temple grounds in Japan, or is it the shape of the leaves that compel me to keep painting over and over not just with oils on canvas, but on silk with dyes?
The gingko leaf shape differs from leaf to leaf and from tree to tree, some triangular versus some that flare out into a more graceful fan shape. Some have a deep slit and others a mere hint of a slit in the center.
But when start appearing across my canvases and silks, I see them moving, falling, blowing across the surface at times moving beyond the canvas edges. And why do I prefer them in motion, forever in flux even though at their final landing spot they will eventually disintegrate and dissolve back into the earth?
