This is a monochrome drawing of some of my favorite hornbeams on the edge of Sandlford Wood, near Newbury in Berkshire. It’s actually looking into the wood, from the adjoining field, without the fence that is present in reality. The title refers to the relative…
Continue reading Relativity
Hornbeams in Hainault Forest. I had time to kill in London, so I took the opportunity to ride the tube to the outer limits of the city (to the north and east, furthest from where I live in Hampshire) and visit a suburban forest. Hainault,…
Continue reading Embrace
Mary, Mary, quite contrary,How does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockle shells and pretty maids all in a row. The dainty plants that are “all in a row” in front of the main tree brought the quoted nursery rhyme to my mind and…
Continue reading Quite Contrary
This is a “den” that stood in one of my local woods for what seems like (and probably was) years. I’m fairly sure that it got repaired more than once during the time I’ve known it, but it seems that Storm Eunice (in March 2022)…
Continue reading Construct – SOLD
When I read that Sidley Wood, an SSSI north of Andover and not very far from me, has “many stands of ancient hornbeam coppice”, I immediately added it to my list of places to visit. There is a footpath running through the length of the…
Continue reading Understories – SOLD
This is the third in the “mini-series” of close-ups (Beyond, depicting an ancient oak tree, was the first, followed by Coalesce, which showed an ancient sweet chestnut). This tree isn’t ancient (but it probably got to a decent age for its species, which I think…
Continue reading Echo Chamber
This is one of my favourite leaning hornbeams, but rather than focussing on the echoing angles of the trees looking down the line (as in Conduit), my attention was drawn to the ravaged remnant of a former tree, the stump in the foreground. The characteristic…
Continue reading Stumped
16″ x 12″, ink on kaolin-coated board See https://www.amandabatesart.co.uk/2021/03/society-of-graphic-fine-art-open-exhibition/
Pigment inks on kaolin-coated board, 11 x 14 inches. The row of hornbeams viewed through the crook of the end tree. I’ve used a palette based on secondary colours, which has an unearthly feel, echoing the odd angles and shapes thrown by the trees.
This piece was done as a demo for Basingstoke Art Club, which I am a member of. I was originally asked to do a short talk on my techniques for the AGM Zoom meeting, but – as I’m not a very confident talker – I…
Continue reading Lean on Me (with video)