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 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.....
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
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)
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.
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.
