The Mother Tree

The Mother Tree is a very large, impasto, semi-abstract oil painting of a tree in a bluebell wood with deer. It is 60x36x1.5 inches. A Mother tree is a matriarch tree in any woodland that is connected to all the others. I came across this one in April 2025 and she was massive and very old and was clearly the queen of that particular patch of woodland. She was on a mound with a stream running past in a hollow glade with other trees all around. The bluebells were coming out and the whole space was a universe quite separate in atmosphere to the path that led in and out of it. I stayed a while in this magical space and it impressed me enough to paint this tree and to try and capture the size and majesty of it. Beneath the tree is a small white deer buck and on the left of the painting, silhouetted against the light, are three female deer. The colours are very pale, muted and neutral with grey, lilac, green and blue shades that reflect differently throughout the day as the light hits from different angles giving the painting a slightly ethereal feeling. Painted on deep edge canvas, white edges, no frame needed and ready to hang.