This work was exhibited as part of an outdoor show held in the courtyard of the F. H. Varley Gallery of Markham during the Unionville Festival. Most of the paintings depict old orchards in Scarborough: orchards stranded in the suburban hydro fields and park lands.

What fascinated me about these trees, was their ability to bud and sprout and bloom despite their hollow, diseased trunks (many spun with the nests of birds).

At a difficult time in my personal life, these trees became symbols of hope and renewal. I could look to them to find ways of reaching when there seemed to be no energy left, to find ways of coping with the emptiness that comes with loss.

"I stand among them,
poised between hold and release.
Remarkably alive.
Waiting for the hollowness
to strengthen me.

For the empty space
to find its tenants."