Kim Gravelle is an artist based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and has lived much of her life in southern Ontario where the trees around her have influenced her artistically. Kim developed her style of drawing trees over 25 years ago. She is currently learning more about trees and the creatures who live with them.

My love of trees began very early in my life. I would climb the enormous sugar maple we had in our yard. I would toboggan down hills until exhausted, I would look up at treetops swirling in the wind, loosing myself. A little later, during times of transition, when the place I lived was chosen for practicality over aesthetics, or when I was stuck indoors with health problems, I could always find a tree to look out my window at. Examining the intricacies of their branches was what I would do while looking out a window, or out walking, or waiting for a bus. An otherwise mundane setting transformed when I spent time with a tree that would remind me of how wonderful and interesting the world is.

I also loved to draw since I was a child, and in early adulthood, my artwork became all trees. I had always noticed the trees in artwork, and because they were almost always in the background, I would look at how they were rendered and think about how I would love to show them as the main character in the artwork, and show more of their details. Through several years, I was painting and drawing in various styles by experimenting and by buying art materials just to try them and see what could be done. So my artwork looked very different from how it looks now but the theme was always trees. At a certain point, I developed this style of drawing on a white background to show the details that really express the character of each tree.

I don’t actually draw every detail. Every twig is carefully chosen to show the character of the details to bring in the eye and not overwhelm it. I often spend a lot of time choosing exactly where to put these details, and more importantly, where not to put them. I want the viewer to see the beauty of the tree the way I do, so I highlight what is most important by making careful choices about what to include.