"The Tree"

As all of you know I have been consumed with making a "tree of life." Everyday, line upon line, the tree has begun to take shape. One of the first things I had to realize is that I didn't have to make a whole tree. One can feel like they are under or by a tree without seeing the whole thing. This picture kind of shows what I mean.

In Nephi's dream the tree was white, so I knew the tree needed to be white. To experiment I spray painted and sparkled leafs that will be attached to the branches.

I realized that a all white tree presents problems - there is no contrast so that the fruit stands out. To help with this, I am thinking of making the trunk and branches gold. This is my thoughts at the present time, they could change at any moment.

The shape of the trunk with branches that can be disconnected has been really hard to figure out. The tree has to fit inside a door, it also needs a way to be stored. Friday I played with a paper towel roll to get the effect I was looking for.

Saturday morning I woke up really discouraged. I was beginning to think I had gone down the wrong path as far as the tree was concerned, that maybe I needed to go back to my first ideas that were more one dimensional. I could hear dad working and pounding in the garage and went to go see what he was up to. To my surprise he was making me the structure of my tree! This may not look like much, but it has been well thought out. Your dad makes my dreams come true! I will keep you posted as the tree progresses along.

It is now Oct. 22 - The tree is progressing very slowly, but some major break throughs have come to pass. Every day is an adventure! The fruit was the funnest and the easiest to figure out. I just had to experiment with a lot of glitter to find the best one.

Trying to figure out how to add removeable branches has been difficult, but Dad and I finally figured how to make them out of PVC pipe. I also am experimenting with how many leaves I'll need and if I need more tree limbs. Please excuse the messy gargage!

Today I realized the tree isn't half as important as the picture that goes in front. Take a look!

So much work is left to be done on the tree, but atleast it is taking shape!