The beech tree is traditionally known as the “queen” of the Forest (oak being the “king”). It seems a fitting epithet: beech grows tall and elegant, with smooth, supple bark and a fabulously coloured wardrobe of leaf colour – from fresh spring greens, though strong…
Continue reading Queen of the Forest – SOLD
Danebury hillfort, located between Andover and Stockbridge in Hampshire, has a fine collection of beech trees. I’m told that the beechwood once extended over the whole site, but that the county council, who maintain the site, cut it back to reveal the splendid earthworks. By…
Continue reading Gatekeeper
This is an oak tree that stands by the side of the main road as it bypasses the village. It is part of a narrow wood that screens the backs of some houses from the traffic. Judging from its size, I’d guess that it is…
Continue reading Entangled
This third beech tree in Selborne Hanger has a remarkable little cavern beneath its exposed roots, probably due to erosion. The roots form an open lattice – a “filigree” – over the space on the uphill side. The tree is at the foot of the hanger,…
Continue reading Filigree – SOLD
This very distinctive and characterful beech tree sits on the lip of a hollow in the hillside at Selborne, its triangular mass of exposed roots gracefully supporting it. I started to draw it on A3 paper but it didn’t feel right, so I switched to…
Continue reading Enigma – SOLD
The village of Selborne in Hampshire is known as the former home (now a museum) of the eighteenth century naturalist Gilbert White. It also has a rather splendid beech hanger (a hanger is a wood on a steep slope). I recently spent some lovely time in…
Continue reading Selborne Beech – SOLD
Last Wednesday was warm and dry, perfect weather for sitting on a hill and painting. I decided to find another open access hillside, and settled upon West Woodhay Down – about 12 miles distant, and a place that I had previously walked and sketched but…
Continue reading Harlequin (West Woodhay Down)
The warm weather tempted me out again to Stubbington Down. This time, I climbed to the top (it’s very steep) and made my way round to the left so that I had a rather different view of Cannon Heath Down. The painting’s name, White Hill,…
Continue reading White Hill – SOLD
This was painted, en plein air, in the last of September’s sunshine. There is a convenient patch of access land on the steep slope of Stubbington Down with a view across the rich farmland of the vale of Kingsclere, looking west towards Beacon Hill and…
Continue reading Vale (of Kingsclere)
