Ogham Tree Alphabet Series

The Ogham Tree Alphabet series began as a journey into Celtic symbolism. Each tree in the Ogham — birch, rowan, ash, alder, willow, hawthorn, oak, holly, hazel, apple, vine, ivy, yew, elder — carries its own myth and resonance, tied to cycles of protection, transformation, renewal. I find North American trees that are the equivalent of these trees, keeping faith with the simpler, organic form of the alphabet.

Over time, I began to see these trees not only as symbols of an ancient culture, but as expressions of something universal: the way all of life moves in balance, in opposites, in flow.

This is where Taoism entered. I have consulted the I Ching since the early 1970s, not as fortune-telling but as a way of listening to the rhythm of change. The hexagrams remind me that opposites are not enemies, but partners: light and shadow, growth and decay, beginnings and endings. The Tao Te Ching says: “Being and non-being create each other. Difficult and easy support each other. Long and short define each other.” My paintings live in that space of interplay.

The Ogham series often includes shapes — spirals, arches, vesica piscis — which act as thresholds and doorways. They invite the viewer to cross from one state into another, just as the I Ching asks us to see the moment we are in as part of a larger cycle. I don’t force these images; I follow where they want to go. In Taoist terms, this is wu wei — not striving against the flow, but working with it.

For me, painting is not about ownership or control. When a piece is finished, it no longer belongs to me. It has come through me, and then I release it, the way Taoism counsels: “The sage creates, and lets go.” What remains is presence — the image itself, standing as a mirror of something larger than I can name.

The Ogham Tree Alphabet is, in that sense, both Celtic and Taoist. It is rooted in the ancient symbols of the trees, but it also reflects the Tao’s ungraspable movement. Each painting is a forest of opposites, a hexagram in color and form, an invitation to step into the mystery.

Coda: Beacons of Continuity

The Ogham Tree Alphabet paintings are not protest pieces, but they stand as quiet affirmations of what endures. Just as Marc Chagall’s dreamlike visions offered light in a time of darkness, these trees remind us of cycles, roots, and patterns that outlast any moment of upheaval.

They are beacons of continuity — holding open a window to connection, beauty, and resilience. In their branches and spirals, they carry the reminder that humanity’s deeper story is not defined by fear, but by renewal.

Hawthorn / Huath
Learn more. →