The Art of Trees

Tyler Arboretum brings people, art, and nature together every day. We’re pleased to present this online exhibition, “The Art of Trees,” celebrating trees at Tyler and beyond, featuring many talented artists from our region. Enjoy.

Karen Hoover
Tree Cookies
Long after spring and summer interest are gone, Mother Nature continues to inspire. Garden detritus including tree cookies, seedpods, leaves, cones and flower heads, that would normally be consigned to a brush pile, show us again their fleeting beauty. I’m a Horticulture Volunteer and I rescue garden waste before its final demise. What’s in your garden?

Pete Prown
Catbird Seat
I’ve painted trees and landscapes in oil for many years, but have begun painting avian portraits recently. This gives me the opportunity not only to continue working with trees, but adding this critical piece of the puzzle. Observing birds is also something I pursue at the Arboretum – especially the wonderful Tyler bluebirds. Visit Pete’s website.

Cynthia Murray
Beyond the Treeline
With landscapes being the subject of many of my paintings, trees are often the visual and emotional anchor of the image. This acrylic treeline gives definition to the foreground while inviting the viewer to imagine what lies beyond. The canopies capture light and shadow, helping to communicate the atmosphere of an imagined location.  Cynthia Murray on Instagram

Richard D. Greenwood
The Witch Tree
For years, as I passed by, I had looked at this wonderful evergreen tree located on Kaolin Road in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania and enjoyed its unique shape. It’s spooky; it looks like a 30-foot tall witch. Finally, I put my fears behind me, waited for the right weather, and took this sundown photograph of the specimen I call “The Witch Tree.”

Toby DeLaney
Autumn Walk
This oil painting of a forested Pennsylvania landscape is available for $275. Email Toby.

Carlos Alejandro
White Oak at Auburn Valley State Park/Oversee
My photograph is one of, if not the largest, white oak (Quercus alba) I have seen in Delaware and maybe anywhere. It has about an 18-foot in circumference and is in the middle of a likely third-growth forest in the Piedmont of Delaware. Visit Carlos’ website.

Tamara Hutchinson
Hagley’s Water
I created this oil painting en plein air at the Hagley Museum, along the Brandywine River. Hagley is the site of the gunpowder works founded by E.I du Pont. This body of water is what drove so much of the achievements that our society has benefited from and allows us to enjoy this vast land preservation. Every time I walk along the banks of the Hagley I am inspired by the beauty and power of the water, and the grandeur of the massive trees that have weathered all of the storms that have come their way. Visit Tamara on the web.

Dave Charlton
American Sweetgum
This is a photo of an American sweetgum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua) at Tyler. It happens to be a Painter tree, located below Lachford Hall in the re-created rows that the Painter brothers planted. I tried to capture the beauty in the colors, patterns, and forms that I see in the incredible plant world. I use my photography to learn how plants develop from seed to maturity. So this tree, like others, is just as interesting and beautiful at every scale from tiny male flowers, strange looking female flowers, corky bark, and star shaped leaves to the full-grown autumn specimen here. Dave Charlton on flickr.

Tom Pleatman
Yulan Magnolia bowl
This is a bowl and platform I made from a piece of fallen branch from the Yulan Magnolia tree behind Tyler Arboretum’s Lachford Hall. The wood was collected approximately eight years ago. Visit the Treasured Wood website.

Kate Srinivasan
untitled
I paint nature how I see it. This is an early acrylic-on-canvas painting, created not long after I met my husband who is from India. I wanted to paint a flowering Indian tree for him.

Joan McClintock
Growth
This is a digital drawing made with The Sketchclub app on an iPad with an Apple pencil. Created last week, I found this drawing helped me begin to process the need for change in our country. It’s time for all to learn, listen, and grow. That’s why I call the piece “Growth.” Joan McClintock on Instagram.

Sydney Evans
California, 2018

Liz Griesser
Endurance
While on a plein air adventure at Laurel Preserve, I passed this tree with a complicated root system. It caught my eye and I took a photograph. I went on to paint an okay painting of the stream that day. Scrolling through my photos later, this tree popped up and I thought “Now, why didn’t I paint that?” All I could think was how amazing the root was and how that tree endured weather, rocks, and anything else nature could throw against it – yet here it was, still there and looking amazing. Visit Liz’s website.

Sean Huntington
Wolf Tree
Based on a huge, old-growth white oak (Quercus alba) in the town of Allegany in western NY. The piece is 6×12 inches using Prussian blue and metallic gouache. Sean Huntington Art on Instagram.

Jackie Mehalick
hand-embroidered landscape
This piece of hand embroidery was inspired by the beautiful cherry blossom petals in the grass that I delightfully observed as I took my daily walk during the pandemic lockdown. Nature became a respite from the restrictions, and a source of beauty and new life. Visit Hollow Fern Embroidery on Facebook.

Connie Paolino
Orcas Splendor
I recently created this pastel painting. I was fascinated with this tree while visiting Orcas Island, Washington this past fall. The pine was almost shimmering on the edge of a cliff and was absolutely stunning. I often work from my photographs after visiting a location and love the opportunity to recreate a moment in time! Trees are one of my favorite subjects, but basically anything in nature that captures my eye can become my next painting. Visit Earth’s Reflections on Etsy.

Lynda Pilkington
Tree in Pastorius Park
This is a tree that I have a relationship with; it resides in Pastorius Park near my house in Chestnut Hill. I spend some time each week sitting on her roots. It is a 12×16 ink and paint (some metallic) creation, on canvas. I am a self-taught visual artist and my fascination with all that’s magical and fantastical can be traced back to my earliest memories. I was captivated by the fairytales my mother read to me. I also found inspiration while outdoors and in my love of animals. My creations are personal and reflect my joy; they have been described as realistic creations with a heart. Visit Lynda’s website.

Allison Kelly
Pink dogwood in bloom 
I am handicapped and can’t just walk under a tree to snap a picture. I was thrilled when I got my golf cart close enough to the pink dogwood tree on our property for me to take this shot. I rested the camera against the branch so the photo would look like a sea of petals. Sadly, this tree died last year from too much rain in recent years. Thank goodness I have many photos to keep its beauty alive. Visit Noteworthy Nature Pics on Etsy.

Jim & Lynn Lemyre
Liminal Space
Working in oil, with meticulous attention to detail, we paint landscapes of the imagination. The painting becomes a meeting place, a threshold between the worlds of imagination and reality, dream and consciousness, the individual and the collective. Incongruent combinations, dual imagery and unlikely scenarios create moments of visual poetry and reveal hidden meanings. Our collaboration is based on long talks about art, philosophy and concepts for paintings. Visit the Lemyre Art website.

Pilar Lugo
Dogwood flowers
The art medium is mixed media: a mixture of textiles, hand embroidery and marker. Dogwoods are one of my favorite trees!