Squirrel in the Concrete Jungle: A Gift to Mihika
By Faith Monahan
Mihika told me that she always looks at the squirrels on campus to check if thee have 3 strips going down their backs. Although she has yet to find one, the impulse still remains. Although the squirrels in Hartford, Connecticut do not have this marker, the Indian Palm Squirrel does. Mihika told me the story behind this; a deity caressed the squirrels back and painted three white strips with his fingers. For her gift, I decided to paint in one of these squirrels in a tree on campus.Thanks to Spring, the tree outside of Jackson and Wheaton halls has begun to gain more attention. It has large, blooming white flowers, and it appears to maintain grandeur over the surrounding buildings even when it is actually the same height. In late March, the tree struggled to bloom because squirrels climbing up it would shake off the bulbs, but the tree has now found its stride. I was entranced by the shape of its branches as well as its petals. The way each type of tree bends appears different, but I admire the resemblance it holds to the joints, bones, and curves of a human body. Trees have their own anatomies that do not always appear obvious to me when I attempt to draw them or paint them. I had to stop and look at each part while painting this tree and ask myself, “How thick is it here? How smooth is it here? How twisted is it hear?”
Below the tree is an abstract appreciation of the Concrete Jungle, or the freshman dorms on the South side of Trinity College’s campus. I do not have the skill to paint a realistic version of this landscape, but I represented it in a style I’ve used before when painting buildings I am fond of, such as the main street of my hometown. The tree and the concrete jungle contrast sharply in color and shapes, as I painted the tree in shades of gray across a blue sky and the concrete jungle as an artificial orange with blue windows. For Mihika’s gift, I wanted to incorporate something from home, such as the Indian Palm Squirrel, with the contrasts found on campus.