Swamp Drawing Project begins

I'm beginning a project with the Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy at the Phinizy Swamp, in which I take walks around the swamp and draw things that I notice.  Each drawing will be posted somewhere in the swamp for a short while, and you can get a free copy of the drawing at the visitors' center.

This is a Bald Cypress, Taxodium distichum.  It’s called “bald” because it loses its leaves in winter.  

I’m looking at the widened base of the tree – called the “buttress”.  Buttresses in architecture stabilize wall structures by providing extra width and mass at needed points.  Botanists tend to think that the buttress of a cypress tree provides extra stability to keep the tree up in the mucky ground of a swamp – and also in high winds.  Generally, the buttresses of these trees are higher and wider in wetlands that have higher flood levels. 

 My drawing of the buttress is a little abstracted.  I really like the flare of the buttress as well as its fluted quality – the way the base of the tree waves in and out as it gets wider. 

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Here you can see a photo of the tree I was looking at.

And here's a link to the Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy:
http://naturalsciencesacademy.org/

You can find information on their programs, and on how to get to the swamp.

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