Oak

(click on thumbnail to see larger print)

To live along the edge of a South Carolina salt marsh is to discover the aging swirls within the oak relics remaining after ancient hurricanes.  I have been photographing these beautiful natural sculptures for the last 40 years – always surprised and captivated by each that I find.  These textured artifacts remain some of the most interesting images I’ve captured.

It is through the creation of these Giclee prints that I can now take these images from the pages of a closed book (which would sit un-opened and un-observed) to their proper place on a wall.  Some of these old timbers date back before Columbus and have decorated the shoreline for centuries.

The four “Weathered Oak” prints presented here are digital (black and white) photographs of a single tree.

I have not modified them into watercolor prints.  I have taken great care in preserving the variations in the shades of gray while accenting the high contrast of these images.  This is a great series from which to select a grouping or a single print, which can be placed for all to

appreciate.  I will be adding additional prints of these sculptures in future updates.

“Old Oak (a)” is an inclusion of a watercolor rendition of this subject.  Even with the greens of the cedar and the watercolor tones, this old oak is just that – an old oak.

The “Angel Oak” image is a print from a series I took of the famous 1500 year old oak found on Johns Island, SC.  It is magnificent and protected as a Charleston County Park.  It is believed to be the oldest living thing east of the Mississippi River and the oldest oak in North America.  I recorded several hundred images of this old guy whien I visited for an afternon.  I choose this one not because it was the most impressive but because it best represented the character and general image I found in my photographs.  I still feel that I am walking inside the 17,000 square foot spread of its broughs.