Look! Leaf Painting from Outdoors Past

A giant leafy oak tree stood right outside of our first apartment. It framed every view to the outdoors through the studio's only two windows for three fun-filled years. While living there, we made this large-scale painting that transferred "our" oak's leaves to canvas...

We made the painting on a simple stretched canvas from Pearl Paint in NYC. The blue background was built up with layers of leftover watercolor paints and the leaves were transferred to a stencil from an enlarged photograph of the actual oak tree, then painted onto the canvas.

Two apartments and six years later, we still display the painting and remember with appreciation the giant oak's green emergence each spring, leafy protection from summer rays, and friendly rustle on open-windowed nights. That tree, ~~as much as~~ more than anything, influenced the atmosphere inside of that cheery little studio apartment.