Crooked Timber

            In the “Crooked Timber,” displayed in the Nevada Museum of Art, Chester Arnold paints a crooked tree that has fallen. It appears that this tree has fallen from means other than the human hand. There seems to be an old shed or house that has been destroyed; whether it was destroyed by the tree, a storm, or of old age is not made clear. The colors of the painting are very appealing to the eye, and the grand scale of the painting is incredible. This painting was one of Chester Arnold’s paintings that I continued to stop in front of while viewing his creations.

            It is evident from Arnold’s paintings that he is environmentally friendly. His artwork expresses anger in over consumption, cutting down trees, littering, and mining. Most of his works involving trees depict man chopping them down. The “Crooked Timber” painting did not however, and that is why I found this painting to be so intriguing. The fact that the tree in the “Crooked Timber” died by natural causes was so different from all of Arnold’s other art pieces.  

            In my opinion I believe that Chester Arnold’s intent of this particular painting was to show viewers that sometimes being different from everyone else can be a good thing and can give one a longer life. I thought that Arnold was possibly implying that because the tree was not straight like most of the other trees man did not want it, and therefore man did not cut the tree down. This then gave the tree a longer life than the trees surrounding it, as there weren’t many other trees is the painting. I wasn’t sure exactly what Arnold was trying to say with the debris of the shed lying near the tree. Possibly it was meaning that even though the tree was different people still liked it and lived near it. I wasn’t sure about what the shed meant, but I did appreciate the color that it added to the painting.

            My interpretation of the painting was that it is not always better to be just like everyone else. Being different and “crooked” in your own individual lives can make one more interesting, as it made this particular painting more interesting than the ones with the trees being chopped down. Being like the world and giving into the pressure of your peers to be like them can be very harmful to someone. It is much better to be your own individual with your own thoughts and ideas, and in the end living a little “crooked” can yield a longer and more fulfilling life.