Trees And Flowers

A restful, peaceful meadow with a heightened atmosphere of what it feels like to be there among the curving branches and verdant surroundings. Ideal for having the restorative feeling of nature inside the home.

This painting has taken months and it is extremely detailed. The atmosphere around it is just as important as the tree itself. It is based on a real tree that is near my house. Every time I see it I am struck by its "harmonious" qualities - life, other-worldliness, light - these are what I am trying to bring out in my painting.

I gave a running commentary while filming myself painting this tree, for an online drawing and painting course. Read overview of this course

I just loved the negative space around these lilies and the way they seemed to be exuding beauty and fertility. I wanted the white of the canvas to be the white parts of the petals, rather than using white paint. I wanted the stamens and stigmas to be shiny gold leaf for some reason. I love the gracefulness of lilies and wanted to capture it forever in this painting.

I believe nature carries an awareness and largely unthanked generosity. I was raised in the countryside and developed a profound connection with green, living things. This painting for me is a beautiful yet terrible reminder of what nature means. It is bursting with life, season after season, yet seems so fragile and precarious at the same time. I wanted to make a painting that is glorious, yet devastating.

This painting is based on a tree that I sketched from life in a field near where I live. It seemed so “harmonious” and was standing near a main road where cars and lorries roll by every day. It was declaring its beauty and vitality in the face of adverse circumstances, and I feel that it is a reminder to us as human beings to do the same.

This painting was inspired by a Japanese cherry blossom tree. It's a reminder of springtime - after harsh winters, the blossom reappears and the fruit will follow. For me that is a metaphor for my life.

It was painted using a thickening agent in the paint for the trunk and branches, and an impressionistic technique for the blossoms. It sort of changes depending on from which angle you look at it and how close you are.

No additional notes.

This is a special commission I did while living in Ashkelon, Israel in 2005-6.

This painting has been sold but cards and prints are available.

I like to give this card to the lovely women in my life who appreciate beauty and who deserve to be reminded of how special they are!

This painting explores impressionistic and expressionistic techniques of separating colours and giving a sense of intensity.

I call this technique "heightened realism".

I'm trying to capture the way that nature "bursts forth" with vitality, as if it were praising God, hence its name.

I found the prophet Isaiah's words resonating: "the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing".

This painting is an attempt to capture the mysterious, ethereal nature of trees and the calming influence they have on our lives.

I've half sculpted, half-painted a thick gesso underneath the paint to make the trees and branches stand out.

I've tried to capture the way the branches connect at the top to form a sort of cathedral-like corridor that draws the eye heavenward.

I'm inspired by the way trees communicate with each other through their roots, so I have connected them as well.

I like the feelings of freedom and imagination associated with wildflower meadows. To me these cosmos flowers are a symbol of childlike faith but also the fragility and temporal nature of life.