Tree Portraiture in Oil

This pair of tree paintings was created during an in-person workshop, Tree Portraiture in Oil, led by Sarah Miller Totten at the Sarah Hull Hallock library. The class introduced foundational oil painting techniques, including brushwork, layering, color harmony, and composition.

As my first experience working with oil paint, the process became both an exploration of a new medium and a study of the quiet presence of trees. Rather than simply depicting landscape elements, the workshop encouraged approaching trees as subjects with their own character and spirit. Through slow layering and careful observation, I focused on capturing the individuality of each tree, its structure, movement, and sense of life within the surrounding environment.

These paintings mark an important moment in my practice: my first step into oil painting and an experiment in translating the expressive qualities of nature through a new material.