First styling of this Blue Atlas Cedar from Ed Clark
When I got the tree, all of the main structural branches were angled sharply upward…
If you’ve ever worked with Blue Atlas Cedar, you know how brittle they are at the crotch. Even if the branch stays attached, your patience probably won’t — those tight downward bends are really hard to pull off in a convincing way… the result usually ends up looking forced, even with perfect technique.
So I decided not to fight it… instead, I leaned into what the tree naturally wanted to do. I used that upward energy and long, sweeping line to build a wind-influenced design — compressing everything on the right side, while allowing the left side to stretch ‘up and out’ which is very representative of wind-shaped trees.
This one definitely breaks a few rules — but not every tree lends itself to the traditional form. Some purists cringe at that notion, but as long as there’s thought and coherence behind your design choices, I think it’s fun to experiment and see what you can come up with.
After finishing the initial styling, I gave it the night and came back into the studio this am. I ultimately decided to tweak the design, narrow the profile and bring the tree into a more believable proportion. As much as I loved that defining branch, it just wasn’t sustainable and needed to go. It’s always nice when a minor tweak makes a major difference.
