Trees of Provincetown

This past summer of ‘25 I visited Provincetown MA for the first time on an artist residency. Artist residencies are basically about time: affording the artist a chance to focus exclusively on what they do. When I have a lot of time, I tend to walk alot and I can’t imagine a better place than Provincetown for that, particularly for a tree lover since (in my admittedly limited experience) the quality of the gardening in Provincetown is unparalleled in the United States. Right on their front stoops, many of the houses sport the most beautiful, aged and flawlessly manicured trees, such as the great Catalpa drawn below.

Among the other highlights — and I think it’s important to stress here that in the one week I spent in Provincetown, I likely only scratched the surface of what there is to see there arboreally — is the weeping beech pictured below. I was not previously aware that a beech can weep and learning these things is one of the pleasures of drawing trees. The one pictured below is on a sides street on the handsomely appointed lawn of BY&D insurance agency.

However, the tree to leave the deepest impression on me of all those magnificent specimens I saw in Provincetown is the Jack Pine.

This must be due to its ubiquitous presence, lining P’town’s sandy shores, thriving in the poor, sandy soil and taking the most unusual forms.