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Fallen Friend
Watercolor
2010
Private Collection

The artist has always appreciated the art of craftsmanship and in the field of woodworking few peopled exhibit this trait to a higher degree than Kevin Redline, the craftsman who built the artist's easel. Kevin comes from a long lineage of woodworkers but it was his grandfather who seemed to be his earliest mentor. "My grandfather, Floyd Redline, worked a good part of his life as a wood cutter working for his brother-in-law, so he was at home in the woods at work or at his pleasure. He spent as much time as he could in the woods or fly fishing and I often accompanied him on his treks. Years ago he planted a pine tree in the back of the family property and a few years ago the huge tree came down in a storm. The tree had become a symbol of my grandfather." It was that story and that tree that served as the inspiration for the watercolor "Fallen Friend", which depicts a tree the artist would pass on his way to pick blueberries every August. Kevin feels the painting captures the spirit of his grandfather even though the artist never met him.