Post Oak

Cave Creek Glade, Johnson County, Illinois
May 8, 2019
Oil on canvas
9 x 12 in. (22.9 x 30.5 cm)

Private collection

On a sultry, breezy spring day in the Shawnee Hills, I ascended a steep, boulder strewn trail to the top of the Cave Creek Glade Preserve. Along the way I was greeted by prairie classics such as prairie dock, little bluestem, and pale coneflower. At the top of the glade, stunted post oaks on the edge of a dry woodland with a view beyond to the Gulf Coastal Plain made an obvious choice for a field painting. I felt a special connection with these expressive trees, post oaks being one my favorite southeastern oaks.

Cave Creek Glade Preserve on U.S. 45 in Johnson County, is managed by the Illinois DNR.

Painted on location. Touched up in the studio.

Exhibition History