Artwork Info & Pricing

Barton’s Collaboration with Nature
Live Edge Wood Originals

Mar 5, 2025

“Art takes nature as it model” – Aristotle

Live edge wood has become increasingly popular over the years. Seeing it used in places like bar tops, dining and coffee tables, benches, or even as charcuterie and cutting boards wouldn’t be uncommon. Every encounter with this beautiful material, if you’re like Steve Barton, has probably caught your eye. As humans I think we are drawn to natural elements in places where they aren’t necessarily, well, natural. We have grown accustomed to seeing milled wood, polished and finished. However, something about leaving that live edge just adds appeal.

For artist Steve, that’s exactly what drew him to the live edge wood as a substrate for his paintings. The same appeal that makes you notice it from the get go, painted or not. What I found so interesting when sitting down with him to chat about this unique canvas, if you will, was the process in which Steve flows through, with what he calls, his “collaboration with nature” .
Steve doesn’t just look for those spectacularly perfect pieces while he’s sourcing wood. He looks for the cuts that actually contain “burls” . Don’t worry if you don’t know what that means. I’ll explain, because I had to ask too. Burls are growths on a tree where the wood grain has formed in a deformed manner. Steve explained it as the tree creates unique patterns and knots in response to stress. The specific markings prove that the tree had self healed making for a much more interesting swirling grain pattern, which is highly valued by woodworkers.
It’s a quick trip to Anza, Ca, only about an hour from where Steve lives in San Diego, to his private wood seller. He will come home with a truck bed full of blank slates ready for their new life as works of art.

How Steve flows through his Collaborations with Nature

Step 1:

He loves to exaggerate the “flaws” or markings if you will with acrylic inlays. Choosing the color for these is often based on contrast for Steve. The color of the wood will give him the idea for the contrasting color for the acrylic. There is a Japanese practice called “kintsugi” , where broken ceramics are mended with lacquer and gold. By doing so, the artist is not trying to disguise the problem, but rather give it new meaning. This is a practice that impacts the way Steve looks at his wood pieces. He wants to embrace the imperfections and give the wood a new purpose.
Step 2: Once the color pallet is established with the wood tone and acrylic inlays, Steve lets the piece of wood speak to him, in a sense, about what the particular subject matter will be. To give his imagination a springboard, he will look at the grain, knots and the specific shape of the wood. He said “ the movement of the grain actually feels like part of the undersea life sometimes, so that piece will probably become a sea creature.” Whatever it ends up being he uses the wood coming through the background to accentuate the subject he’s painting. He spoke about loving the idea of an animal being painted on live edge wood.

Step 3:

He begins the painting process! He sketches in his subject matter after sitting with the wood piece for sometimes up to a few days, to really let the piece speak to him about what shape to unfold. Layering in colors to the particular subject that he feels both flows and stands out from the wood to really make it pop, while simultaneously complementing each other. An artist’s time spent on individual pieces varies wildly, but each of Steve’s wood pieces are original and have multiple passes in each session.

Step 4:

Final step is sealing the wood with a clear acrylic overlay.

Although the process can be a very intuitive one for Steve, he does take commission requests for his Collaborations with Nature. If you have a love for natural elements in your home and adore Steve’s animal features, one of these pieces might just be the next piece for you! If you would like to make an inquiry, please submit below.

Click Here To Contact Us