Yep, These Are Paintings. Trees On A Line by Trey Friedman.

Trey Friedman's most recent series of paintings, Trees On A Line, was inspired by a particular tree lined road in rural Connecticut which he isolated to 170 trees he routinely returned to render and observe.

Aerial photo of the trees:


The straight half mile stretch of farmland consisted mostly of of Sugar Maple trees, which the property owner estimates average an age of 150 years with some as old as 250 years.

Numbered photos of the trees:


Beginning in 2004, he began to paint the trees in oil, one by one. Inspired by William Beckman and Chuck Close, he co-opted dead-center compositions and in his words " exchanged the egocentrism of human self-portraiture for the ego centrism of arboreal portraiture."



From life, drawings, oil sketches and photos, Trey transferred an initial drawing, using a grid as a guide, laying in paint square by square with a tiny brush on smooth primed canvas or cradled woodboard panels.

Grid Sketches:

and next to the final art (shown larger later in the post):


Charcoal Drawings and studies:


Averaging 24 x 32 inches, the paintings are rendered in a photographically realist manner. After three months of drying, Trey applied one to five layers of color glazes (with two weeks time between each glaze) to get the light and texture just right.

It's hard to believe the following are paintings and not photographs:













Trey Friedman is represented by Gallery Henoch.

Stickwork. A New Book Featuring The Amazing Work Of Patrick Dougherty.

Sometimes It's really nice to pick up an old fashioned book and be made aware of something compelling that may not have been posted on Facebook or Twitter or recently posted on numerous popular blogs. Such is the case when I opened up Princeton Architectural Press' recently published Stickwork, featuring the amazing twig, branch and tree-like sculptural installations of artist Patrick Dougherty.



above: Patrick lives in his handmade house of log in Chapel Hill, NC with his wife Linda and son Sam. photo courtesy of flickr.

The 208 page paperback book features 230 color and 20 black and white images of the dynamic installations and monumental sculptures that resemble huts, cocoons, castles, beehives and even human figures.


above image courtesy of flickr

Over the last twenty-five years, Dougherty has built more than two hundred works throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia that range from stand-alone structures to a kind of modern primitive architecture—every piece mesmerizing in its ability to fly through trees, overtake buildings, and virtually defy gravity.


above photo courtesy of flickr

His sculptural installations have appeared indoors, outdoors, in urban areas and countrysides, on college campuses and in museums all over the world. Here's a look at just some of them:







above photo courtesy of flickr


above photo courtesy of flickr




above photo courtesy of flickr




above photo courtesy of flickr



View the process of his sculpture in the Parklands with photos by James Fraher

Stickwork, Dougherty's first monograph, features thirty-eight of his organic, dynamic works that twist the line between architecture, landscape, and art. Constructed on-site using locally sourced materials and local volunteer labor, Dougherty's sculptures are tangles of twigs and branches that have been transformed into something unexpected and wild, elegant and artful, and often humorous. Sometimes freestanding, and other times wrapping around trees, buildings, railings, and rooms, they are constructed indoors and in nature. As organic matter, the stick sculptures eventually disintegrate and fade back into the landscape. Featuring a wealth of photographs and drawings documenting the construction process of each remarkable structure, Stickwork preserves the legend of the man who weaves the simplest of materials into a singular artistic triumph. The book is also available in hardcover.


Buy the book from the publisher here.
or from Amazon

Note: most of these images are courtesy of the artist, however, some came from these talented folks on flickr and the Patrick Dougherty flickr pool. If your photo is in this post and has not been credited to you, it is an oversight. Please contact me and I will put the proper credit or remove the image of you wish.