We are so fortunate in this country to have so many areas of ancient Oakland. Some dating back 800 years, possibly older.
Take The superb John Major Oak in Sherwood forest. If Oaks are kings then this Royal Highness must rule the land. Its trunk around 34 feet in diameter. A root structure that travels at least a mile and with a hollow that 4 men can easily stand up in.
Oak trees what do they mean? Oaks offer more than just the solid wood they create. They support and protect over 2,300 different species. The biodiversity that lives within and around an oak tree is equivalent to a small town.
That means without the Oak the less likely these species will survive. The older the Oak the more diversity and amount of important flora and fauna survives. Fundamental to our eco system- this tiny micro world that offers a haven for so much life!
1 Oak= 2,300 species. What other tree offers this much power and guardianship?
Imagine then a field with 2,899 great Oaks. What biodiversity does a place like this create for the planet?
Wistmans Wood Sunlight - Buy giclee print here
This magnificent place with its trees of around 400 years old is perhaps one of the most mysterious and grounding places I have ever had the pleasure to paint.
The trees have a mystical quality to them I feel as if i am walking into a place of special significance. I notice my heart rate relax, I feel calm and grounded and wonderfully content to just quietly walk around the trees. Sometimes sitting and sketching sometimes just standing and watching
Many times i have spent a blissful 3 or more hours here. Often I will ask a question and before i leave an idea or response will come to mind all by itself. But mostly I feel incredibly peaceful here
So what are these feelings? And how do feelings give me the audacity to express what i am about to say with regards to these trees?
When i paint any forest or tree it generally comes from building up a long relationship with it. I may just sit and listen, feel, and watch the light as it shifts and changes. It’s a process of developing a sense about the place.
There is a school of herbalists that in order to understand the properties of the herbs they use for healing, they draw the herb on a piece of paper again and again until they feel connected to the plant. Until they get a feeling of its properties.
True to say the more i paint, the more i visit, the more i go still and wait and watch the more I am open to what i feel is the energy of the place. This is what i really am most interested in painting
I am not interested in achieving a complete likeness. What i want more than anything is to reveal the magic and mystery of a place. An opportunity to discover what lies beneath the visual mind and reveal the energy of it.
This takes a life time of building a relationship with the natural world and one I feel inspired to make. Then perhaps it will allow others to connect more deeply with their environment and value it as it should be valued.
If you are in need of strength. If you feel frazzled stressed, over worked. Feel weakened by events and don’t know how to regain your stamina. If you wish to learn the mastery of your self but lack a good teacher and if you have wonderful ambitions but for the life of you do not know how to put them into play then the healing power of Oak tress are your port of call.
But i would recommend you go with the kind of respect you might offer to a King. Being peaceful in a place like this will offer far more than a busy head.
Many a wise decision has been made under an ancient Oak tree. If you cannot find an Oak tree then hopefully this painting will take you some way there.
The painting has been created in many layers each holding a resonance of colour that when the sun hits the wood panel reveal different nuances. This is what makes originals so important as prints no matter how good, will not show the layers of colour.
These layers represent the different feelings I have about the place I am painting as i try to bring all that i have felt, witnessed and experienced from being here
I do hope this painting offers this to you
The Oak Is A World Within A World, Within A World
