Winter trees – haunting guardians
It has been a joy to explore the small area of woodland when I could only venture a short way from home due to lockdown and physical restrictions. Walking there a few times a week, it is a corner of our area that is so beautiful and tranquil. I follow its trails round and round, over and over and though it is small, it is dense enough and easy to feel lost within its boundaries. I have also discovered that even as it becomes more familiar, there is still so much more to observe as the season’s change.
Through lockdown, I began to see inspiration in the many photos I took. I had an accordion sketchbook I had begun in late 2019 with some tentative drawings of trees but had not worked in it since. So it seemed the perfect way to begin to work into some of the many remaining pages. As I sat at my dining table, page by page the subject gradually took hold in a way that was entirely unexpected. I have painted trees before but only as a response to a brief for an exhibition with the theme Woodland. A means to an end and a subject that felt like a short interlude in between my long term work.
Here though, the inspiration was based on a much more personal experience. Walking through lockdown, discovering sanctuary amongst the trees and as a mindful endeavour to move through pain – all of those things came together in unexpected alchemy.
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