TIM RAINS

Through Redwoods and Dogwoods was created for my mom’s 80th birthday—a celebration of the many walks we took together through Calaveras Big Trees. She taught us the names of wildflowers like they were facts worth remembering, pointed out the frogs, moths, and tracks we might’ve missed, and always reminded us to notice what was just off the trail.

As the years passed, the visits grew fewer, but the place stayed with us. This piece is a reflection of that—part memory, part observation, and part imagination. A visual record of the wonder she helped us see, growing wild beneath redwoods and dogwoods.

This piece reflects not just a place, but a practice — of walking slowly, paying attention, and learning to name what grows and lives around us.

The plants and trees featured in this work are inspired by those found throughout Calaveras Big Trees State Park and Beaver Creek — many of them introduced to us by our mother on family hikes:

Coast Redwood, Douglas Fir, Pacific Dogwood, Western Sword Fern, Thimbleberry, Artist Conk, Bone Lichen, Lupine, Indian Paintbrush, Monkey Flower, Western Columbine, Trillium, Tiger Lily, Shooting Star, Snow Plant, Puffball, Pinedrop

Scattered among the plants are the creatures we looked for, sometimes spotted, and always talked about — those who lived in the shade, under logs, or in the trees overhead:

Banana Slug, Red-Legged Frog, Caddisfly Nymph, Fuzzy Wuzzy (our name for the unknowns), Red Admiral, Tortoiseshell, Tiger Swallowtail, Common Merganser, Dipper, Great Horned Owl, Mountain Chickadee, Steller’s Jay, Hairy Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, Douglas Gray Squirrel