"2 Trees in early spring" © 2005 Lauren Edmond 42"42"; oil on mac painted in "oil" on a mac; printed pigment on archival paper more info buy now I spent the past few years (2005-2006) working on a series of paintings of Tompkins Square Park. This series began with portraits of the trees in Tompkins Square Park (and elsewhere in NYC) that are invested with the asian beetles. My intention was (and is) to focus more attention on helping the trees and preventing the continued spread of this disease that threatens many of our city trees. While painting scenes of Tompkins Square Park, I became interested in the Temperance Fountain and researched the classically sculpted figure of the mythic goddess Hebe that stands atop the Temperance Fountain. Her story is timely, and includes a wardrobe malfunction. Besides the paintings from this series, there is also historical and mythological documentation included as part of this exhibit.