The Lone Tree

I have always been drawn to photographing trees. I was taught as a kid to identify trees by their leaves and their fruit but I’ve never done so by shape. Oaks are often obvious but from distance I’m never sure. But there’s always something stately about them standing tall, on their own, survivors of whatever life throws at them.

So it seems quite a parallel for life during lock-down. Social distancing can be lonely, but also a time for growth and healing.

A big part of my art has been about the background that I stitch into. I’ve printed predominantly from patterns created from my own photos to use and applique, but now I want to go back and play with natural processes. A few years ago I did quite a bit of rust dying – which I love.

I’ve also played with hand stitch and machine stitch, and heated textiles. So I’ve brought those techniques together on this small piece – just to get me started again.

Part of my second year degree assignments used these techniques. A study of Shuttlingsloe that unsurprisingly used a lone tree as its focus. This is available as a card in my online shop.

The image below is at a point of development.