Brownstone Pine I

‘Brownstone Pine I’, Monoprints, Ink, Acrylic on Fabriano Rospina 71cm x 100cm.

This multi-media print describes one of the Monterey Pines of Brownstone (near Dartmouth/Devon/UK) at the end of its natural life, burnt to a cinder; its massive Cones often have to be opened by fire in order for the seeds to be released & subsequently germinate. They have been thriving in the mild, Coastal conditions here since being introduced some 200 years ago from the West coast of the USA; here they grow astonishingly quickly & reach maturity even more rapidly than in their native locale (due to higher average rainfall); they then die and return to humus within a hundred years (where they then break down even quicker than they grow) to provide the nutrients for the next generations, which seems remarkable for such a large tree.

The main body of the tree was achieved by doing multiple gelliplate prints over a hand-cut stencil; I then used masking fluid to protect these dense, silhouette blacks; and then overlayed lighter blacks & greys to describe the detail of the scorched, craquelured bark.