Pine Willow is one of my series that got its origins from a single character; Juma. I had an assignment in art class  in which I was supposed to create a superhero. I created an Earth goddess who protected the world with an ebony wolf companion. The character stuck with me long after the assignment was completed and I drew her quite often. One day, I was drawing her and decided that she needed a male companion. I was using markers and didn't have any natural skin tones to use to color him, so I used the closest color I could, which just happened to be orange. Since his skin was such a radical color, I decided to color his hair to match, so I chose blue. And thus, Juma and Naha had their beginnings in this unusual way. 

Originally, Juma and Naja were human sized, but at some point, I decided to make them the size of a pixie, or a fairy. I was always enchanted with hidden, tiny worlds, and magical beings. With this change, Juma was no longer an Earth goddess and had become an Earth sprite. Meanwhile, Naja became a tree sprite. Earth sprites live in hollows in the ground and among the roots of trees and help things and maintain the health of the soil and things that emerged from it, like grass and plants. Tree sprites, of course, live in the trees and help them to flourish and spread their seeds. Since they are winged creatures, they can move about the treetops quite easily and handily.

Like Eyes in the Dark, Pine Willow was set on Earth, as I hadn't yet created the world of Okanu. In the beginning, the story was set in an unnamed forest, but in the end, the setting was moved to New York City. Juma and Naja grew up there and had always been friends, ever since they were young. They grew up side-by-side and went on many adventures together. From falling down a storm drain, to being snatched up by red-tailed hawks, to trying to rescue a baby pigeon, their days were always filled with excitement. As children, they were very close friends, but as they grew into adulthood, they became closer still. However, their romantic endeavors became a source of conflict.

Juma was the daughter of her people's leader. She was to lead the Earth sprites when her parents stepped down from their roles. As such, she was expected to take a mate and create an heir to lead to village after her. In other words, to wed Naja would be unacceptable, as he was not an Earth sprite. Any children they had would be mixed and therefore their priorities would be divided between two races. But, Juma and Naja's love for one another could not be so easily dismissed and in so many ways, their opposition only made their love grow stronger.

Perhaps one day, I will pick this story back up. The childhood years of Juma and Naja could make a splendid children's book series, similar to my Bell Flowers series. I already made a short comic a long time ago, so the stories are there. Only time will tell, but perhaps this series will find a revival in a new way. I guess we'll see.