First, bracketed commentary from my pre-published social media:
[ I made “Wrens Youngling Oak” in two drafts late evening and then much into the mid-early hours the next day of the 30th.
First draft the entire composition with paint applied direct to the wood panel canvas
My second draft clarified structural elements whilst increasing textural quality, light perception and depth.
Without having made a study or pre-drawing I’m very pleased in comparing the painting to my original photograph taken on the 28th May.
An Impressionist-style painting designed with visually abstract shapes to resemble leaves.
I believe my new acrylic painting is the sixth work attained from this very tree, please see:
(1) “Cluster of Oak Leaves in Hayfield Meadow – first version – Digital & Print only” [20th July 2022];
(2) “Cluster of Oak Leaves in Hayfield Meadow – third version” [26th July 2022];
(3) “Hayfield Oak Leaves – Original” [12th August 2022];
then two creative photography works amongst The Ten SolarScape Artworks entitled:
(4) “Alien Leaves Analysis SolarScape” [20th November 2022] and (5) “Silvery Red Treeline SolarScape” [20th November 2022].
The title for the painting is derived from my works like “Curved Tree at Wren’s Nest Pond – original” [14th March 2022]. The Youngling Oak stands watchfully like an outpost before its natural ecosystem pond. ]
Wrens Youngling Oak is a lush expressive painting of young oak branches in alla prima.
Produced with an accurately layered painting technique from my original photograph, the surface is nicely textured—conveying both the density and vitality of a woodland environment seen in spring or early summer. The swirling greens, radiant in bursts of black, white and bluish brushmarks, evoke a sense of shimmering foliage filtered through fragmented light.
At the compositional core, elongated vertical trunks extend upward and outward, interconnected by branching limbs that disperse through the canvas. These forms, though partially abstracted, suggest a juvenile oak reaching toward maturity. The background finesses into dappled pigment—some smooth, others tumultuous—echoing the living randomness of a wild, managed forest. The white flecks and patches may allude to the presence of blossom, light reflections, or birds mid-flight—wrens perhaps—evoking the title’s poetic imagery.
This work stands in the embrace of impressionism and gestural abstraction, evoking elements of both pointillist texture and spontaneous motion. It neither mimics realism nor entirely distances from same; instead, the painting encompasses the sensation of being immersed—submerged even—within a verdant, living space. The natural concealment of clear figuration draws the viewer closer, encouraging deeper contemplation.
Artistic Notes:
The title Wrens Youngling Oak suggests a personal or ecological narrative. Wrens—modest, energetic songbirds—often symbolize life, resilience, and humbleness, while a “youngling oak” may be a metaphor for strength or growth in both natural and psychological terms. I am inviting you to explore not just the scene, but a moment of becoming, hinting at themes of protection, early life, or memory rooted in place.
The work fits comfortably into contemporary eco-aesthetic practices, which favor direct engagement with nature through materiality and metaphor. It would pair well in curatorial contexts focused on environmental poetics, new materialism, or exhibitions examining landscape beyond the horizon line—where the immersive or internal becomes the sight of painterly attention.
Here is the original photograph:
I listen to songbirds all the time. You can hear them exquisitely, whilst walking by this young oak.
For instance, talking of songbirds, the idea of a spectrogram featured in the landscape fauna for “Gold-Bronze King James IV & I Oak of 1612” – recently completed, also in acrylic. This represented my subconscious artworking, since I did not plan to paint the horizontal fauna (behind the tree) in the manner of a spectrogram.
Art made me paint the way my feelings wanted.
Hope you enjoy.
