Pines beside another path through the remnants of the ancient Caledonian Forest which once covered most of Scotland

An outdoor oil sketch 10x12ins

Pines 10x12ins. Available - £250

Wishing tree and moon. From Fountainhall in the Scottish Borders

Click images to enlarge

Wishing Tree 24x26ins.   Commissioned work

Laird’s Loch is stocked with “coarse” fish, ie. not trout. This tag would annoy me if I was a fish.

It’s a beautiful big pond in the Sidlaw Hills.

By Laird’s Loch 8x10ins. Available  - £175

Hedges in Scotland can be quite sparse.This one in winter was vibrating in a strong north wind gusting from the River Tay. Perishingly cold. They survive this kind of life for centuries and are  taken for granted as no more than a minor addition to a fence.

The Road to Newburgh 8x10ins. Available  £175

Another path and these brilliantly lit young trees were just growing at the start of spring.

Each tree had a long exaggerated shadow that wove across last year’s leaves.

Sunlight on Path 16x18ins Private Collection

The age and size of the trees in this old pathway through the Surrey landscape give them a far stronger presence than any people who happen to walk alongside them.

On this path I was focused on the root structure that was knotted into the earth. They looked like they could have just have paused and pushed their way into the sandy soil that morning, changing into wood quickly like a speeded up film.

We used to think that some of them picked up their roots and walked around at night apparently.....

Pilgrims Way 30x36ins Private Collection

High wind at sunrise and the tree standing against both.

The Hill at Sunrise 18x24ins. Private Collection

The smaller of these two paintings was the outdoor oil sketch which I used as the basis of a larger studio work shown on the right. I needed to develop the idea a bit more without altering the feeling of the moment of sunrise

A colour study of these woods in winter, in bright sunlight.

Oil sketch - Den of Alyth                 Available £250      

This small oil study of Barry Mill, in Angus was used by Francesca Greenoak in her book ”The Gardens of the National Trust for Scotland” (Aurum Press Ltd. London)

Orchard Barry Mill Private Collection

I’m always drawn to the age of trees as well as their appearance. At any rate, a sense of time always seems be a feature when I find myself painting trees.

Scots Pines 8x10ins. Private Collection

This hairy caterpillar came back completely unharmed inside my hardback sketchbook and fell out in when I opened it hours later, indoors...

as a pet, I found it too demanding.

FREEDOM

Some folk get to save the Rhino or the Blue Whale, others get Operation Hairy Caterpillar.

The Path 8x10 ins.  Available  £175

Another view of the same wall of pines when the water was half frozen in winter sunlight.

Lairds Loch 2 10x12ins  Available  £250

This was painted in a hard frost with the sun failing to raise the mist enough to shine brightly and the ghost of a circle in the sky.

Winter Sun 11x14ins. Private Collection

The leaves were moving slowly and continually in a very slight wind. Too slight a wind to cause them to make any noise but nodding and twisting, lit and backlit, moving in space the stalks they lived on were invisible.

Dance of Leaves 30x36ins  Private Collection

In the Den of Alyth.

Aylth Burn 24x26ins.  Private Collection

Alyth Burn is a landscape in miniature with soaring cliffs twenty feet high and a great river that you can almost jump across. It’s quite secret in places and lends itself to contemplative detailed observation

River Landscape 30x36ins  Private Collection