Trees AND Art are the Answer! – Julia George

Wil Bosbyshell is a local artist we recently partnered with and we loved this connection because he is also passionate about spreading awareness of the importance of trees! His work engages his audience to take a more personal look at trees. His studio right now is located at the McColl center in uptown. He does unique artwork by tracing trees and turning them into magnificent works of art. We had the pleasure of getting to know him at the recent Earth Day festival in first ward park. His exhibit encouraged people to reflect on their memories with trees and to share the knowledge of how trees show their age by rings of growth. We provided Wil with tree “cookies’ ‘ or slabs of wood to show the growth rings. Here’s some more information on Wil. Please feel free to check out his work!

1. What about trees inspired you to make them your focus with art? 

My particular fascination with trees lies in my belief that trees are not proverbial abstract things but individual, living beings with personalities and stories to tell. Bringing those stories into daily consciousness is at the heart of my drawings. I am fascinated by the interaction between the texture of the bark, the natural design of the limbs and the depiction of scars left by time and weather. The drawings in my current series are complex so I can achieve an asymmetrical balance that stimulates our minds and invites us to develop our personal relationship with trees. I hope my drawings lead to greater understanding of their importance in the ecosystem and the spiritual place they hold in the world.

2. How long have you been practicing this version of your art?

I have drawn all my life. In kindergarten, I drew dinosaurs instead of learning my ABCs. My teachers bribed me to study Monday through Thursday by promising to let me draw all day Friday. I turned my artistic focus to pencil drawing in the past two years. Pencil really helps me capture the different textures of the different trees that I draw.

3. What is your favorite memory of a tree?

I grew up in Florida near the west coast surrounded by a lot of very tall, full longleaf pines. When the wind blew the pines made a whispering sound. I would fall to sleep at night listening to that soft, peaceful sound.

4. Anything else you want to add?

People are welcome to visit my studio to see my Tree Series of drawings at the McColl Center for Art in uptown Charlotte or on Instagram @wilbosbyshell.

Portfolio: https://www.behance.net/wilbosbyshell

Blog: http://bosbyshellart.blogspot.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wilbosbyshell/

Updates From the Arbor – Cissy Urbanovsky

Events Past and Future! The Tree People at Heartwood Tree are passionate about trees, and we try to not miss out on opportunities to Talk Trees! Making connections in our community helps us share our Mission: Empowering People As Tree Stewards.

We do this through demonstrating the experience of making emotional connections through people to trees.
This Spring, Heartwood had the honor of sponsoring two local Earth Day celebrations, Earth Day Charlotte at First Ward Park uptown, and EarthJam at Robbins Park in Cornelius.
In early May, we participated with the City of Matthews, hosting an educational booth at the entrance to Stumptown Park during the course of BeachFest! Our participation in these events reinforces our commitment to bring the knowledge of the benefits of tree care and preservation to our community. Being able to impress upon our area youth is an extraordinary win for our team as well, as children are the Tree Stewards of the Future!

Coming up in November!  The annual Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) Expo will be held once again in the great city of Charlotte!  Tree Care Industry professionals from all over the US will join together at the Charlotte Convention Center uptown to gain educational credits, participate in industry forums, and see expo displays for all of the equipment, technology, educational and safety vendors that keep Certified Arborists up to speed.   This is a fantastic event not only for tree professionals, but for any person interested in tree and plant health care, Green industry happenings or networking!  Visit https://expo.tcia.org/ for more information, tickets and planning.

Most Charlotteans know that Heartwood Tree, with Patrick George at the helm, has been the local tree service expert since 1979.  Even though this company began with 1 truck and a couple of chainsaws back then, it has grown into one of the most trusted and recognized green industry companies in Charlotte, Asheville and beyond.  Growth like that doesn’t come from excellent service alone, it comes from within, from our family of tree people, from the internal culture that has been nurtured since the very beginning.

In 1991, Charlotte resident Cindy Bauer first crossed paths with Patrick George when she learned of a part-time accounting opportunity with a local tree service through friends from Belmont Abbey, where she had attended college. Cindy was a young mother, with a desire to get back to work, but not the corporate office world where her career in accounting began after school.  Heartwood

appealed to her, in that she would be able to work from home and around her own family’s schedule (Imagine that, flexible work schedule in 1991!). One morning, Patrick George arrived at her home, and they discussed the opportunity at the Bauer breakfast table together.  Cindy felt comfortable with Patrick right away, even though he wasn’t the rough and tumble rugby playing tree climber that she expected to meet. In her first year with the company, Cindy was surprised to be invited to Patrick’s infamous “Heartwood Christmas Party”, already an annual tradition.  The Bauer family had relatives visiting, however, so Cindy politely declined.  Patrick insisted that the Bauer family AND all of the visiting relatives join in the festivities, in lieu of Cindy not being able to attend. They were all welcomed and celebrated by Heartwood’s tree family, and this was Cindy’s first experience with the culture that Heartwood held. Over the next 30 years, Cindy would come to discover just how much of the “Family” she would become.

It was a challenging start with Heartwood, as a new routine and accountability had to be fostered to progress the company to its next development, but this challenging role would become the opportunity to “have fun at work” and ditch the corporate viewpoint for Cindy.  Over this time, Cindy would find growth at her own pace, flexible time for her family, and Work/Life balance, before it was a catchphrase. As the business grew, so did her role, as she naturally began taking on human resources responsibilities as well.  A highlight of Cindy’s career with Heartwood at this time was helping to develop the policies, procedures and sales process that would shape the future of this tree company.

Particular highlights of Cindy’s career with Heartwood included business growth in spite of very hard times in our area, such as hurricane heavy years, like we had in 2018.  In 2019, Heartwood tree celebrated its 40th anniversary, and Cindy really valued the celebration, as she felt proud to be a part of this company’s milestone.  Her career has not been without hardship, however, such as recession years, when employees would have to be let go due to lack of work.  Also particularly difficult has been the Covid pandemic, and seeing first hand how fragile our interpersonal relationships are, and the nurturing that is needed to trust one another and keep communication channels open.  These hardships affected Cindy deeply, as she was always conscious of how these issues would affect Heartwood employees, and most importantly, their families.  In retrospect, Cindy’s biggest takeaway from her career with Heartwood has been the blessing of sharing friendships, families and milestones such as marriages and children with her tree family here.

In a parallel to her beginning with Heartwood, Cindy now has grandchildren,   and is again looking forward to focusing her time and energy on the next generation of her beautiful family.  After the loss of a beloved coworker, Sue Acord, and the birth of her 2nd granddaughter two months later, Cindy came to realize finally that it was “time”.  As difficult as it has been for her, Cindy began transitioning out of the Controller role at Heartwood just under two years ago.  And now, as she wraps up the last of her human resource projects and responsibilities, Cindy is taking the time to reflect on her role in this company and work through the grieving process of letting go of the tree family that has been a part of her own family for 31 years.  Even though her day-to-day presence is going to be GREATLY missed, we all at Heartwood know, we wouldn’t be where we are today without her passion, influence, and support for our tree family.  Cindy looks forward to pursuing her own personal goals in the future through creative activities, spending time with her children and grandchildren, and hopefully, sipping Mojitos on a beach.

Stepping into the role of Controller is Tricia Boling, who has had the opportunity to work side-by-side with Cindy over the past 2 years, and, in another parallel, also came to join the Heartwood family as a part-time accountant.  We all look forward to future growth with Tricia in this role!