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Some things stay put while everything around them moves, and you only see it when you walk all the way around. The Held Tree is a multiple-exposure photograph of a single tree at Benton Park in St. Louis, its crown dissolving into layers of leaf and pale sky while the trunk stays exactly where it stands.
The eye lands on the lit face of the trunk, climbs the fork, and follows the long right limb out into the ghosted foliage, where each frame shifts the outline a little and the leaves thin into the haze. Warm light pools on the leaf-covered mound at the base, and a stone and red-brick bridge sits quietly behind it, its railing running level across the frame. Below, the still water gives the picture its quiet detail: the trunk reflected whole, dark and steady, rewarding the person who looks down as well as up.
The image is made from many exposures taken while walking around one tree, blended in Photoshop, in the tradition of Pep Ventosa's layered tree portraits, with the soft color of Ernst Haas and the still, lit-plane quiet of Edward Hopper.
The Held Tree suits living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms, as well as boutique hotel lobbies, restaurants, clinic waiting rooms and offices where a warm, calm focal point is wanted. The vertical format fits a narrow wall, a hallway or the space beside a window. Olive, amber, warm oak, walnut, cream and soft gray-blue all sit comfortably beside it. It is a natural gift for anyone with ties to Benton Park or to St. Louis.
For the same city, seen up close: Pair with What the Tree Kept, a mature St. Louis tree at bark distance, its trunk slowly closing around an iron fence, the near, sharp counterpart to this whole tree seen from across the water.
For the same autumn water: Pair with Reflections of Fall, reflected trees in golds and muted greens over deep shadow, the same quiet autumn palette carried by the water instead of the tree.
For the same lone tree, in deliberate contrast: Pair with Hoarfrost, Kansas, a single tree dissolving into ice fog on the Kansas prairie, the same loss of outline brought by weather in one frame, where this tree loses it to layered exposures.
Available as a signed, numbered limited edition print (edition of 15) in Gallery Metal, ChromaLuxe® Metal (Gloss, Semi-Gloss or Matte), TruLife Acrylic, archival paper, canvas, and wood. Archival paper is the strongest choice: the soft, layered edges of the crown and the gentle gradients of the sky reproduce like a painting on paper, without a sheen that would compete with the blur. TruLife (Low-Glare) Acrylic is the choice for lobbies, corridors and waiting rooms, where the dark water of the reflection keeps its depth without picking up room glare. ChromaLuxe® Metal in Matte suits a modern interior that wants the warm trunk to carry from across a room.
Note: Custom and oversized photographic prints are available. Please contact the studio directly to discuss custom framing, matting, or specialized museum glass options.
Some things stay put while everything around them moves, and you only see it when you walk all the way around. The Held Tree is a multiple-exposure photograph of a single tree at Benton Park in St. Louis, its crown dissolving into layers of leaf and pale sky while the trunk stays exactly where it stands.
The eye lands on the lit face of the trunk, climbs the fork, and follows the long right limb out into the ghosted foliage, where each frame shifts the outline a little and the leaves thin into the haze. Warm light pools on the leaf-covered mound at the base, and a stone and red-brick bridge sits quietly behind it, its railing running level across the frame. Below, the still water gives the picture its quiet detail: the trunk reflected whole, dark and steady, rewarding the person who looks down as well as up.
The image is made from many exposures taken while walking around one tree, blended in Photoshop, in the tradition of Pep Ventosa's layered tree portraits, with the soft color of Ernst Haas and the still, lit-plane quiet of Edward Hopper.
The Held Tree suits living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms, as well as boutique hotel lobbies, restaurants, clinic waiting rooms and offices where a warm, calm focal point is wanted. The vertical format fits a narrow wall, a hallway or the space beside a window. Olive, amber, warm oak, walnut, cream and soft gray-blue all sit comfortably beside it. It is a natural gift for anyone with ties to Benton Park or to St. Louis.
For the same city, seen up close: Pair with What the Tree Kept, a mature St. Louis tree at bark distance, its trunk slowly closing around an iron fence, the near, sharp counterpart to this whole tree seen from across the water.
For the same autumn water: Pair with Reflections of Fall, reflected trees in golds and muted greens over deep shadow, the same quiet autumn palette carried by the water instead of the tree.
For the same lone tree, in deliberate contrast: Pair with Hoarfrost, Kansas, a single tree dissolving into ice fog on the Kansas prairie, the same loss of outline brought by weather in one frame, where this tree loses it to layered exposures.
Available as a signed, numbered limited edition print (edition of 15) in Gallery Metal, ChromaLuxe® Metal (Gloss, Semi-Gloss or Matte), TruLife Acrylic, archival paper, canvas, and wood. Archival paper is the strongest choice: the soft, layered edges of the crown and the gentle gradients of the sky reproduce like a painting on paper, without a sheen that would compete with the blur. TruLife (Low-Glare) Acrylic is the choice for lobbies, corridors and waiting rooms, where the dark water of the reflection keeps its depth without picking up room glare. ChromaLuxe® Metal in Matte suits a modern interior that wants the warm trunk to carry from across a room.
Note: Custom and oversized photographic prints are available. Please contact the studio directly to discuss custom framing, matting, or specialized museum glass options.