Elizabeth Reed Smith
Tapestry
Elizabeth Reed Smith
14″ x 11″
“The planting of a tree, especially one of the long-living hardwood trees, is a gift which you can make to posterity at almost no cost and with almost no trouble, and if the tree takes root it will far outlive the visible effect of any of your other actions, good or evil.”
George Orwell
Donna Leavitt
Verulam
Donna Leavitt
graphite
60″ x 45″
While serving in the Peace Corps (2006 to 2008) I wanted to continue making art by drawing the wonderful trees I was photographing. In order to be able to bring my work home with me at the end of service I had to devise a way to make large drawings portable! Thus the multiple sheets of paper which could be easily disassembled and packed up.
I like the presence that the large drawings bring to the viewer, the close-up view, causing the eye to examine texture and form and to feel an intimacy with the subject. I continue working in this format with trees seen here and in different parts of the world.
Cheryl A. Richey
“Pyrophyte 2”
Cheryl A. Richey
Burned canvas, acrylic, collage on panel
36″ x 24″
In nature, pyrophytes are plants, including trees (e.g., some species of pine, oak, eucalypts, and giant sequoias) that have adapted to tolerate fire, and in some species, fire aids them in competing with less fire-resistant plants for space and nutrients. For some trees, fire can facilitate their cycle of reproduction. I like the symbolism of resilience (perseverance and survival) in the presence of fire.
Each painting in my Pyrophyte series begins with quickly rendered marks on raw canvas, which are then ignited with fire to produce scorched and burned-through spaces. After sealing the burned cloth and laminating it to a primed panel, I paint with acrylic and add collage elements to achieve the final composition.
The Peace of Wild Things
The Peace of Wild Things
Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free
“Elephants Tree” by Jacqui Beck, Acrylic, 11″x17″
Elizabeth Smith’s painting, “Ancient Light”
Elizabeth Smith
‘Ancient Light’
pen ink and metal leaf on layered paper.
22” x 30″
“The planting of a tree, especially one of the long-living hardwood trees, is a gift which you can make to posterity at almost no cost and with almost no trouble, and if the tree takes root it will far outlive the visible effect of any of your other actions, good or evil.”
George Orwell
Jacqui Beck’s painting, “Mother Tree”
Mother Tree acrylic & mixed media 30"x24"
This painting is about how trees are the mothers of us all, how they stand rooted in the earth and support us if we lean on them with care.
“The tree is more than first a seed, then a stem, then a living trunk, and then dead timber. The tree is a slow, enduring force straining to win the sky.” ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Donna Leavitt’s painting, “The Guardian”
The Guardian
Donna Leavitt
graphite
46″h x 63″w
“Trees have been imprinted upon my psyche. . . I am enthralled.”
DL
While serving in the Peace Corps (2006 to 2008) I wanted to continue making art by drawing the wonderful trees I was photographing.
In order to be able to bring my work home with me at the end of service I had to devise a way to make large drawings portable! Thus the multiple sheets of paper which could be easily disassembled and packed up.
The Guardian is the first of the drawings done while in Struga, Macedonia, and it is of a poplar tree that resides on the north shore of one of the world’s oldest lakes, Ochrid. I like the presence that the large drawings bring to the viewer, the close-up view, causing the eye to examine texture and form and to feel an intimacy with the subject. I continue working in this format with trees seen here and in different parts of the world.
Cheryl A. Richey’s painting, “Crackling Arbutus”
“Crackling Arbutus”
Cheryl A. Richey
Mixed media on panel
36” x 24”
Water reflections
On crackling arbutus bark.
Bird cries on the wind.
© Cheryl A. Richey
My painting and haiku were inspired by a week’s holiday in a small cottage overlooking Ganges harbor on Saltspring Island off Vancouver Island, British Columbia. While my husband and I were enjoying the view and solitude we suddenly became aware of crackling, popping sounds that seemed to be coming from the nearby woods. After carefully listening, observing, and sleuthing, we discovered that the sounds were coming from thick stands of Madrona trees (Arbutus in Canada). The reddish bark or “skin” of Arbutus trees grows and stretches and finally tears, cracks, and curls uncovering smooth light green wood beneath. I had never heard this process before. I was awestruck by the active and audible movement of the trees’ growth and came to change my perception of these beautiful trees as “passive” forest dwellers. All of my abstract paintings of “tree spirits,” including Cracking Arbutus, attempt to capture or create my sense of the aliveness, mystery, and enduring vitality of trees.
“Some Enchanted Evening”
Elizabeth Reed Smith
Mixed Media on Paper 12″ x 14”
This work is inspired by the effect of moonlight through madrona trees on the shores of Puget Sound. Because both the moon and its reflection are applied gold leaf they appear and disappear as the light of day progresses.
“In each of my drawings I endeavor to celebrate nature within a time and space beyond the mere place of inspiration. Like artists throughout time, I invite the viewer to enter my world and, by so doing. make it their own.”
‘The gift of trees is the gift of books, oxygen, poetry and hope.’ Anonymous
Welcome to our blog
Welcome to the blog for Trees in Art. We invite you to read our artist statements, view our art, and come to our exhibits. If you’re interested in hosting an exhibit of our work, you can email or call us. Our contact information is on the “Contacts” page. Also, if you’d like to inquire about art for purchase, please contact the artist.
Trees in Art 