Progress has been made on the latest in the Birch Trees at Night series (<– see, use of the word “series” I’m trying to lock myself in to doing more of them…. 🙂 ). The first bits of white are going on well!
Birch trees are just beautiful, don’t need any particular reason to love them other than that, but I decided to poke around and see if there was any fun factoids or symbolism associated – found these little tidbits to share with you and maybe give you reason love them a little bit more:
There’s about 100 different species of birch trees and they’re confined to the Northern Hemisphere.
After the last Ice Age, they were some of the first type of plants to grow, in botanical terms they’re known as a pioneer species. Very hardy, highly adaptive and able to thrive in difficult areas.
These traits make it a prime subject for symbolism in various cultures in terms of representing rebirth and renewal or hardiness – in Celtic mythology the birch is a symbol of just that, renewal and purification. The Celts also used the Birch to protect against evil.
In Chinese symbolism the Birch is also held as a symbol of rejuvenation and protection as well as communication.
This city of Umea in Sweden is sometimes known as the “City of Birches”. In 1888 a fire devastated the city and a popular legend says that it was a silver birch tree that stopped the fire before it completely destroyed the city. During the restoration – the city planted silver birch all along wide avenues to prevent future fires from spreading.
People in ancient Europe also revered the birch and would bring twigs inside their home as a physical intention of invoking protection.
Finally – a little extra fun factoid – you should buy a broom with Birch branches at the end, as these brooms are thought to “sweep away” negative energy!
Mercedes Mosaics 
So glad to hear that you kept working on this piece. I love the idea of a series of birch trees.
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thanks, i think this one will turn out well!
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