I have always found wood to be of great interest, whether polished and carved into something beautiful… or in a state of ruinous decay.

The kapok tree above falls into the latter category. Its great buttressing roots are holding it to the riverbank for now but one day the decaying bulk of the trunk will crash down in a mighty, multi-ton collapse.

The distinctive bark is peeling off in whorls and sheets, thorns still solid even as they slough off towards the wet clay beneath.

You can see more pictures of kapok on my previous post. It’s another tree I hope to add to a future homestead, though it will have to be at the edge due to its huge height and canopy.

I used to do quite a few paintings and sculptures with wood I reclaimed from the ocean, such as this one:

That originally had a head but I gave the head to a friend as a gift. It looks better without it, anyhow.

Here’s another reclaimed wood piece:

I should have made the big time as an artist. My work was certainly odd enough for a New York gallery.

Now I mostly just paint nature when I paint. Once I get an easel again, I’ll paint some pictures again.

At least one should be inspired by the kapok, I think. Heck, I might even take some pieces of it and incorporate them so the decaying former giant of the rainforest will be commemorated.