Yews and Hornbeams Painting

Acrylic, gouache, watercolour and ink on 300gsm thick textured Bockingford watercolour paper / 254 x 178 mm. This series, entitled Native British Trees, proposes a bleak comment of our aggressive present and a probable near future; a stark warning to how our actions devastate the earth, or how Britain’s interference abroad can impact our nation for years to come. These works are compiled from many different visual sources: trees which surround industrial estates where companies make components, weapons, aircraft or artillery for our military or foreign export; sites of historical arms and bomb factories which have been turned into recreation grounds and public spaces; and explosions in foreign territories which have been caused by British-made bombs. A Britain become the second biggest arms-dealing nation in the world, these paintings make a case for planting trees in our earth, not dropping bombs upon it, repurposing our engineers towards renewables and life-saving technologies.