This piece is from 2014, but it seemed fitting to write about it now, since I just went back to make some adjustments and since my last blog post was also about trees. There were some aspects of this painting I wasn't quite satisfied with before, and I went back to it and touched it up. I'm much more satisfied with it now. I felt very drawn to this grouping of three trees ever since I first laid eyes on them. The roots of the center tree are particularly fascinating, but the trees as a trio are also very striking for their shapes and the pair of two light, slim trees, with the darker somewhat damaged one. I used to love to go to this trail in the fall and sit to listen to the wind in the leaves and watch them fall. Being among trees like this is spiritual experience for me. As with Ellis Hall Maples, I conceive of this painting as a tree portrait and each tree as a unique individual.
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This painting is adapted from a photograph I took of the brilliant red black gum trees outside the Ellis Hall building at Ohio University. I'm often fascinated by trees and their uniqueness. When I paint a tree, I feel I am painting a kind of portrait and I like the tree or trees to be the focus of the painting. In this particular piece I wanted to give a sense of the leaves and branches swaying in a light wind, of looking up into the trees and being aware of nothing else. Just their colors, the sunlight streaming through the leaves, and their gentle motion.  Ellis Hall Maples, 2018, Oil on Canvas, 40 x 30 inches |