Ever since I found this strange tree in Aberdeenshire last summer, I’ve been longing to get back to Aden Country Park to spend more time documenting it.
It’s striking twists and contortions are vegetatively mysterious, visually exciting and emotionally disturbing – a perfect combination to captivate this tree artist.
When I heard that last winter’s Storm Arwen had devastated the park’s forestry, I felt a sense of panic that I’d missed my chance. It was clearly a very old tree with the usual signs of decay – had it been toppled by the wind or broken by the successive storms? It was with great relief that I learned from local Landscape Officer Calum Davidson that it had survived where thousands hadn’t, so I made a plan for a drawing trip this spring.
Back to the beginning in art making
Why was I so desperate to travel 3 hours north just for one tree? It does seem a bit impulsive but this singular organism has lodged itself in my imagination and I have a strong feeling that I need to make art about it. That means going back to the beginning of my process, connecting with the tree through drawing, asking it questions, tracing its surfaces and listening to its stories.
I’m just back from a perfect few days with this tree, with some first impressions, sketches, photos and videos (and a song thrush as accompaniment). Calum gave me a warm welcome to the park with a coffee and a wide ranging discussion about our cultural and historical connections with trees in the landscape. He also told me this one was locally known as the Witch’s tree and thought to be a site of hangings. We agreed that the tree was unlikely to be old enough to have been mature at the time of the Scottish witch hunts, but the link was a grim reminder of the hundreds of such trees across the country which were used as a means of execution.
The unmistakable strangeness of this tree will stay with me and I can already feel new ideas bubbling just under the surface of consciousness. See (and listen) for yourself…
What a joy is was last week to be back in a big room talking to people in person about my exhibition and journey towards it as an artist. There were some thought-provoking questions at the Burgh halls event, like ‘How do you feel about the effects of recent storms on trees?’ and ‘Have you ever refused to sell a work to someone you didn’t like?’ (that was a first!)
The exhibition will be at the historic 
I’m beginning with one which wasn’t on the original pile but, as it was a Christmas present it’s shouting the loudest. I first read Frederick Franck’s ‘The Zen of Seeing’ when I was an art student and it made a deep impression on me then, so I’m looking forward to revisiting it now, particularly as I’m about to start teaching my 
Drawing on location in Langholm
I found a last minute place to stay near Langholm in Dumfries and Galloway, a 
Now I know what special trees live there I’m planning to go back to Aldery Sike next autumn for a more focused drawing trip. Next time I’ll be taking a more extensive drawing kit (only had my sketchbook that day) and hopefully some more waterproof boots.
In preparation for my drawing workshops I spend some time thinking carefully about which materials to introduce my students to, which will work best for their level of learning, which will be exciting and fun to use, which will suit the location and tone of the day. I also like to make people feel like they have their own individual materials for the duration of the workshop, so I use small metal tins for the fragile stuff and bag it all up so everyone has the same selection.
