BECOMING A TREE
An ongoing artistic enquiry into trees, place, time and perception
What happens when I stop looking at a tree and imagine what it might feel like to be one?
Becoming a Tree is an evolving artistic enquiry into our relationship with trees and the natural world. I want to spend sustained periods with particular trees—observing them, drawing them, painting them, touching and responding to their textures, listening, writing – allowing prolonged attention to change the way I see.
I am not interested in simply representing trees.
I want to imagine what it might feel like to be one.
Rooted. Still. Exposed. Growing. Weathered. Connected underground.
Reaching for light. Surrounded by other trees. Alone.
I use walking, looking, listening, drawing, painting, and experimental textiles to explore this imagined experience – allowing the materials themselves to become part of the journey.
I will immerse myself in the experience of being with / a tree.
I will select particular trees and locations and return to them repeatedly, allowing familiarity and sustained observation to become part of the process.
For me, trees are not just subjects. They are a way of thinking about being human, about place, memory, connection, resilience, ageing and change.
I will explore the space between looking at nature and feeling part of it.
This is my attempt to cross that boundary – to move from observing a tree to imagining becoming one!
My practice will include:
- drawing and mark-making
- painting
- working with textiles and natural materials
- experimental processes
- writing and reflection
- photography and visual documentation
- recording changes in light, weather, season and environment
- returning to the same trees over time
I am particularly interested in what happens when observation becomes prolonged.
A tree that initially feels familiar may reveal different qualities when it is looked at for hours, revisited over days, or encountered in completely different weather and light.
I want to see whether this depth of attention can change not only the work I make, but also the way I see.
My existing artistic practice is concerned with the emotion of place — how places are experienced rather than simply represented.
I work intuitively with colour, atmosphere, texture, paint and textiles, often allowing the physical qualities of materials to contribute to the emotional character of a work.
Becoming a Tree develops this interest further.
Rather than asking, “How do I paint this tree?”, I want to ask:
“How can I make something that conveys the experience of being with this tree?”
This could mean responding to its physical form, but also to its age, scars, movement, shadow, silence, resilience, and relationship to its surroundings.
The work may become increasingly abstract as the research develops. I want to allow the process to determine the visual language rather than deciding in advance what the finished work should look like.
If you are interested in this project, connect with me
Why Trees?
Trees have always held a particular fascination for me.
From an early age, they seemed to have personalities of their own. I had a beautiful oak tree outside my bedroom window, while away at school; it became a source of comfort and companionship, and I would talk to it at night. At fourteen, I won an art prize for the best ‘observed’ tree.
My curiosity about trees has continued to grow alongside my art practice. Today, my studio overlooks a river surrounded by trees. I find myself repeatedly sketching the same trees, returning to them in different seasons, weather, and light.
Recently, I have begun sitting beneath them without drawing at all – listening to their sounds, watching their movement, and looking up into their changing canopies.
Trees give me a profound sense of calm and wonder. Their strength, longevity, and deep-rooted presence make me curious about what it might feel like to experience the world from their perspective – to remain rooted while everything around you changes.
This became particularly poignant during the last months of my mother’s life. We would drive into the countryside together, and she would often say, ‘Look at those beautiful trees.’ That simple act of looking and appreciating has stayed
with me.
Becoming a Tree brings these experiences together. It is an opportunity to slow down, look more closely, and explore what might happen when observation becomes prolonged – not simply to understand trees, but to imagine what it might feel like to be one. Through the project, I hope to share that sense of curiosity, connection and wonder with others.
I don’t know where Becoming a Tree will lead, and that uncertainty is part of the project.
What matters is looking more deeply – and discovering whether, through art, I can communicate something of what it might feel like to be a tree.
Perhaps, in inviting others to look more closely, the work might also offer a moment of stillness and connection.