On the Cover: "A Tree for All Seasons"
Ramsey Ayers always knows what we are trying to say
24" x 30" mixed-media acrylic collage
To longtime readers of Country Roads, Lafayette artist Ramsey Ayers will be no stranger. Since first stumbling across her shimmering, mixed-media collages almost twenty years ago, we’ve asked Ramsey to create CR covers time and again, because her pieces—which celebrate the lifegiving connection between people and the places they call home—often seem to capture exactly what we’re trying to say. When considering the cover for this 40th anniversary issue, which explores how we and the region are simultaneously evolving and enduring, we imagined a great tree—as a landmark, a symbol of endurance, a source of shelter, a process of renewal, and a marker of the passage of time. In Ramsey’s hands we think a tree gets to be all these things, and also a bright, sparkling celebration filling the space between earth and heaven, bringing both just a little closer together in the process.
See the original artwork on display at The Corbel in St. Francisville throughout the month of September, and explore more of Ayers' work at ramseyayers.com.