Hlencan [Deluge]

This work emerged from my first visit to Lustleigh Cleave in Devon last April — during a day-long downpour worthy of a temperate rainforest. I had been compelled to visit after reading The Lost Rainforests of Britain by Guy Shrubsole, and the Cleave did not disappoint.

Earlier in 2025, for my Moor Trees Crowdfunder, I printed similar lateral boughs from the Cleave in monochrome. Those pieces were deliberately time-limited — each created in just fifteen minutes. Their immediacy was the point.

Upscaling the composition here was an altogether different challenge.

Layering the dense woodland backdrop required patience and persistence - particularly in holding the complexity of the background while allowing the vibrant spring light of that rain-soaked day to remain.

The title references the old English word Hlencan, a term that can suggest connectivity within nature — one of the touchstones of my Tree Portraits series. The interwoven boughs, the filtered light, and the saturated atmosphere all speak to that sense of ecological interdependence.

I’m still not entirely certain about this piece — but I am pleased with the persistence it demanded, especially in resolving the depth of the woodland and the rather magical light that pervaded, despite the deluge.