What do we think of when we hear the word family?

Perhaps brothers and sisters, mother, father, cousins are brought to mind. In the strictest sense, of course these are all family members. But the bond goes much deeper than that. Families share a common ancestry or beginning which is not limited to people.

Man has always had a strong connection with nature. It is the first thing we think of when we want to get away from lifes trials. But, perhaps it is not that we want to get away so much as it is our need to find familiarity, likeness, comfort and acceptance. In nature we find all these things and more: beauty, strength and power, giving and yes, the blemished as wellall things we see in each other. Its like looking into a mirror.

In KindredA Family Portrait, Monica Smith poignantly makes the connection between man and nature, completing the circle of our ancestry.

You will never again see a tree as just a tree.