THE WONDER OF TREES

Leading contemporary artists & craftsmen express the many aspects of trees and how they affect all life on earth

Age-old respect for trees is gaining more credence these days as scientific discoveries reveal mycorrhizal networks underground, demonstrating their interconnectedness and sentient nature. Touching on just a few aspects of the Wonder of Trees and the habitats they create for wildlife, artists working with paint, wood, textile, ceramic, willow, papier maché, slate and jewels are displayed in the galleries and gardens at Keigwin in this summer exhibition.

Jessie Ann Matthew’s fluid oils and watercolours are based on her local Scottish landscape; Alison Orchard’s paintings emerge from her immersion within woodland, as do Yorkshire-based Lesley Birch’s oil studies. Kirsten Glasbrook’s Tree of Life woven tapestry is the ultimate manifestation of the majesty of trees, and well-known wood engraver Jonathan Gibbs reveals their more intimate aspects in his detailed engravings.

Potters James Burnett-Stuart and Karen Williams use tree and bird imagery in their decoration, and Claire Gibbs cleverly manipulates various photographic images as collages in her photomontage original prints. Local willow worker Lin Lovekin shows a variety of her baskets, complemented by the turned greenwood bowls by her husband Jamie. Herbie Girardet’s carved wood reliefs echo the themes of mediaeval stone carvings.

Equally naïf in design are Kristy Wyatt Smith’s recycled wood and tin cupboard automata—with their complex mechanism to imitate birds in flight. Cotswold-based jeweller Elaine Day fashions brooches, necklaces and earrings from silver, gold, and enamels, all inspired by wild woodland creatures. Milliner Lou Pocock has turned her hand to creating brooches (or corsages) from feathers and finely crafted leather and silk flowers.

Ardyn Griffin’s imaginative papier maché sculpture of camels among palms rounds off the variety of materials and exhibits shown inside the gallery. Helen Nock’s inlaid slate sculptures and tables are dotted around the gardens. Do wander among them!