Oaks

Oaks

43" x 41"

Copyright 2022 Susan Brubaker Knapp

Whew! I just finished “Oaks,” the final piece for my exhibition at the N.C. Botanical Garden coming up soon (it will be on display March-April 2022). Last summer, I collected oak leaves I found on my morning walks around my neighborhood, and I was amazed at the diversity of species I found. Some oak trees have leaves that can be pretty variable in shape, so it can be a little tricky to identify them. 

North Carolina’s capital city is Raleigh, known as the City of Oaks. 

I’m not an expert at leaf identification. But I think I have included pin oak, post oak, willow oak, white oak, shumard oak, and black oak leaves in my piece. 

I used a stencil of tree branches when I layered the paint on this piece, and I love how they give the leaves a feeling of transparency or shadowing of surrounding trees. I positioned them to give a feeling that the leaves were blowing through the wind. 

Cotton fabric, acrylic textile paint, cotton batting, cotton backing, cotton thread. Wholecloth painted, stenciled, free-motion machine quilted.