What’s involved in the making of Living Tree Art? 6

Earl Senchuk Artist/Inventor

At 65 years of age, I know what it’s like to work hard late in life when life is supposed to be comfy and easy.  Times are changing fast and it seems that more and more people need new ways to create income.

The Living Tree Art course is a webinar training course.  A webinar is like a seminar over the internet.  It would not be possible for me to explain in proper detail what goes on in the making of a tree otherwise.

The beauty of the webinar method is that it allows me to connect personally with all of my students at the same time to answer questions, and, so that we can all share information about what we’ve learned by our individual experiences in making Living Tree Art.  The webinar part is free as part of the course.   Living Tree Art is brand new and the market is wide open territory to anyone having the wherewithal and creative spirit.  The next paragraph will give you an overview of what is involved in the making of a tree.  If you think you have the means to do these processes, continue to read further.

Each tree starts out with a skeletal steel frame that suggests the shape of the tree and establishes the proper distance between branches.  Special struts, kind of like those on an airplane wing, provide means to create the taper of the branches and trunk.   Steel rod is then welded to the struts to define the outer perimeter of the trunk and branches.  They just follow the flow of the struts.  If the tree is to be 8 feet tall or taller, then protective liners for the micro tubing are inserted to provide means to water the trees automatically from underground.  Several choices in anchoring means can be employed based upon tree size and type.   The tree is then filled, tightly wrapped in a mesh, and then a thin layer of concrete is applied.  After that comes the bark texturing layer and then the coloring of the bark.   Living Tree Art can be made to look like any species of tree.  Here are a few examples.

You can see many more examples on my website by going to https://earlsenchuk.com/ar/living-tree-art/

The Living Tree Art course reveals in step by step detail the process of building realistic looking trees made of concrete starting as small as table-top models on up to 12 foot tall giants.  The course teaches not only what to do, but what to think about before and as you do it.   It provides a complete list of all the tools as well as materials needed to make a tree 8 feet tall.  From the start, you will learn the what, where, when, why, and the how-to of Living Tree Art, and even how to approach the who that buys your Living Tree Art creations.  No two trees are ever alike.  There are no limits or rules, only guidelines to follow that will open doors to a whole new realm of creativity in a totally untapped market.

The cost of the course is $495 and includes 40 work-in-process videos that run in parallel to each step of the 120 page written manual which has many drawings and photographs.  Basically, you read a step in the manual and then follow my lead in the corresponding video.  I show you not only how to do that step, but what it should look like before proceeding to the next step.

The ends of the branches are pin posts onto which can be attached various adapters that can hold things like rings to hold pots of flowering or foliage plants, tumbleweeds, pine boughs, pumpkins, even lights. This photo shows four different displays of the same tree in the same location in the same year, 2014.

Display changes of the same tree in the same location all in the year 2014

The trees are not as heavy as one might suspect because the concrete is just a shell.  Although I elect to do the bark texturing by hand, there are other ways to do it using silicone molds which are actual impressions of real tree bark.  I usually sell an 8 foot tall tree for $2600-$3000US.  The cost of materials to make a tree is less than $300.  It’s a good profit margin, but I’ll be the first to admit it’s a lot of work to make an 8 foot tall tree.   The big payback is that the compliments never seem to stop, and everyone stops to notice.  It makes people do a double take.  It’s been a fun reaction to watch over the years.

Size matters greatly in terms of challenge, which is why I set up another webinar course called “Wedding Tree” to teach how to do smaller tree art for table tops like the one shown below. Vertical Artisans can learn by getting their feet wet first before proceeding to the 8 foot tall or taller trees that require internal watering systems and special anchoring means.  In this new webinar, I show, in detail, with the help of 24 videos and a 43 page written manual,  every step in the process of how to make this tree, the plinth (base), and even how I did the plants.

“Wedding Tree” Concrete and steel, 36″ tall with plants

Since I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, it’s difficult to get seven pots of healthy living plants in winter that have grown over to conceal the pots.  For this reason, I decided to go faux against the very namesake of Living Tree Art.  Normally, real flowers, tropical plants, dried plants, tumbleweeds, pine boughs, pumpkins, or lights make up the foliage of the tree.  All of these options serve to carry over to the next season, or change of venue. This display can be changed to living plants simply by switching over to the ring adapter.

My wish is that any artisan with moderate welding skill might find opportunity for self-employment by making and selling these to florist shops, gift shops, galleries, and restaurants who can now entertain a creative new way to display to their markets. The permutations in design variations are endless.

To see more variations of Living Tree Art, different art mediums in which I work, and some of my inventions, just click on my website link below.

earlsenchuk.com.

Thank you for your interest in learning how to make Living Tree Art.