Silhouette Oak and 3 Pines, black, on pink dropcloth Print

Silhouettes of Trees - Oak and 3 Pines Landscape art can be very peaceful to live with, and spending time in the company of trees has brought me joy all my life. Imagine my delight when I first read about the Japanese tradition of forest bathing, which has been thoroughly researched and the benefits are well documented. Spending time with trees to benefit your health and peace of mind is not just some personal quirk of mine, it's a real thing! I felt so validated. When I draw trees (or, in this case cut the shapes of trees), I'm usually remembering time spent in their company. But the landscape scenes of trees I depict in my artwork also show the dynamic struggles of trees. Some trees grow straight, tall and fast. Some trees have more compact forms, less height, and they may struggle to compete for sunlight when growing in the company of taller trees. The roots of trees both cooperate and compete; for water and nutrients. We generally think that humans are the biggest threat to trees, and we certainly are... But trees also threaten the habits of other trees, they compete amongst themselves. In this image a Garry Oak Tree is pictured with a group of three young pines. This series of tree collages, created through an ephemeral meeting between two pieces of paper on my scanner, captures the dynamic struggle of trees competing for territory. It may look like a landscape, but it is also, in a sense, a battle scene. The dropcloth background is created from the paper that covers my work surface when I paint, and it becomes marked in a variety of ways, in some cases you may see the print of bubble wrap - I put it in wet paint, as a barrier, so I can keep working over it without staining the piece I'm working on, and the texture shows in the paint after I remove it. The end product is an interaction between my artwork and my environment, and it's combined on my scanner with the cut paper tree silhouettes in various ways. I hope this image brings to mind your own memories of peaceful time spent in the company of trees, and also inspires in you a curiosity to better understand the lives of trees, and how we can cherish them. Enjoy the Oak and 3 Pines image and all of the Silhouettes of Trees in the series.