For those interested in "domythic" decorating, here are some more Wall Trees for you -- this time at the Endicott West Arts Retreat in Tucson, Arizona (which I helped to create and design, along with Delia Sherman and Ellen Kushner). For this desert enviroment, the painting technique is just a little different from the "wall trees" in my cottage in Devon.

Above, the kitchen table in the Main House at E-West sits in a grotto of white sycamores. Below is another white sycamore (they're my favorite desert tree), painted in the rustic little Bunk House in the barn -- which is where I stay when I'm at the Retreat.

The colors I use for the desert Wall Trees are brighter than the ones I use here in Devon. It suits that gorgeous desert light, and reflects the regional influence of Mexican design. (The Mexican border is just a short drive south.)  The branches of of the tree in the photo above go around the corner (on the left) to arch over wooden shelves full of dishes and pottery. On the right, they arch over a dusky blue door that opens into a charming little Mexican bathroom. Alas, I don't have a picture of that -- but here is the rest of the room. (The photos come from a different year, and somebody has swapped the wicker chair for a purple one. Things move around a lot at E-West.)

There are also trees in the E-West Library (in the right-hand picture above, and below), spreading their shade over a blue velvet couch and chair passed down from my Pennsylvania Dutch grandmother. The walls are painted with adobe clay paint, to which I added chopped up straws and grasses to give them an interest texture.

And here's one of the shy little magical people who inhabit the place, at least in my imagination....