It’s no surprise that Tim Althauser’s work emulates a deep understanding of his subject — the tree.

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His painted aspens are so incredibly lifelike, that one would think he has spent his entire life staring up at trees, and in fact, he has. Prior to becoming an artist, Althauser cut timber and built log houses throughout Arizona and Colorado for over fifteen years.

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In 1977, after a brief stint in the Airforce, he caught a ride on a log truck headed to Saguache, Colorado. This is where he learned to capture the liberated feeling of being out in nature; gazing up at the sky and listening to the breeze in the leaves, but all with a saw.

 

After the Saguache sawmill burnt down, Althauser ended up in Alpine, Arizona, where he stayed for many years cutting timber and raising four wonderful daughters.

 

Unfortunately, at the age of 38, his logging days ended when he suffered a severe brain hemorrhage as the result of an accident. After months of physical therapy, he slowly learned how to care for himself and walk again.

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He tried to return to his work as a lumberjack but was unable to. In 2003, Althauser’s artist friend, David Davila, encouraged him to try painting. From this moment on his life forever changed. The paintbrush became his new tool to capture trees the way he knew trees, by looking straight up. Rather than cutting trees down, he would preserve them forever on canvas.

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Althauser's signature style embeds colors within each eye notch of the aspen tree; lapis lazuli, malachite, and crimson red are delicately threaded throughout the bark. In each painting, the viewer is placed under the tree's canopy to experience the wonder and peace of nature through a unique, expansive perspective.