Woodlot, Cumberland

16×20 on 140 lb Watercolour paper

I love trees (not quite a tree hugger, but close). These beautiful and beautifying parts of nature live on a different timescale than us. I’d like to believe they are sentient (I confess to be a little animistic). For a species that at 50 years old would be considered a youngster, we would seem like just so many insects flitting by, gone in an instant. Small but nasty insects, cutting down and laying waste for our own purposes.

Our understanding ebbs and flows, but generally is increasing. A few of books I have enjoyed and would recommend are

• The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohllegen

• Forest Walking by Peter Wohllegen and Jane Billinghurst
• How to Read a Tree by Tristan Gooley

This piece is a watercolour study just completed (draft 2 actually – still learning).