Wednesday 6 April 2011

The shape of things to come?

Whilst walking back round the mere at Ellesmere, we came across this willow. I must have walked past it dozens of times before. Whether the light was different, or my state of mind was more receptive to ideas, I don't know. The tree is not symmetrical - probably due to some 'surgery' or damage. and due to its position next to the mere. Its shape is lovely. I am thinking about how to represent it and others in my work.



I realised that its beauty lies in its 'real' shape. Tree skeletons in  reference books tend to be a little less true to life. Best observed in the absence of leaves, I set out to find more 'tree shapes' for reference, in the fields surrounding our home.




I was fascinted by the shapes and textures of this:



Its surprising how much can be hidden by leaves:



This second one made me grin - it has an adjacent 'pup-tent' or 'granny annex' just visible to the right of the main residence!





To finish - a selection of bursting buds - and catkins - both willow and hazel - time to get stitching!!!

5 comments:

  1. It's lovely to see the inspiration behind your work - your photos really capture the beauty of those trees. LIz :)

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  2. I know that willow at Ellesmere!!! I've been past it lots of times and I agree it's very beautiful. I love trees of all different sizes and shapes, I'm probably at my happiest and most relaxed in a wood, so I find your tree photos lovely. It's great that you find such inspiration in them and I look forward to seeing your work in the coming weeks to see if I see any willow shapes!!

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  3. I completely know what you mean about trees, I have been doing a lot of sketching and studying trees recently for my work and you do get such a better idea of how they are put together at this time of year

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  4. I really like the close-up pictures of the knotted up trunk (-;

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  5. Beautiful photos - the willow looks like it is bowing to Royalty.

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