Tangled - UofG Arboretum

Tangled - UofG Arboretum
Originally uploaded by Alan Norsworthy

As part of my renewed interest in drawing, sketching and painting I am reading a book by Ernest W. Watson entitled 'The Art of Pencil Drawing' first published in 1968 so it is my no means new in fact this book was written shortly before he died in 1969.
Old it may be, outdated ? Absolutely not. The man was a master of the pencil and an excellent writer/teacher.

This blog post is about one small section of his book, his love of tree's, in particular dead tree's.
Now that to some may sound morbid but let me explain in his words;

"Tree's, like human beings, often do astonishing things. Their eccentricities are intriguing. They twist and turn in the most unexpected ways-almost always, it would seem with an instinctive sense of good design. And when they die , they do so with dignity and artistry....
... For it is the skeletal structure of tree's that fascinates me, particularly those that are aged enough to display the character which they have acquired during their lifetime"

I look upon old tree's this way also, they are truly majestic in their own way. As they age and decay the bark falls revealing the essence of their character the colours, hues, textures become a road map, fascinating in its complexity or simplicity.

Yesterday while walking in the Arboretum woods. We stopped to examine and old, dead tree, no more than a stump really, slowly returning to the forest floor that bore it many many years ago.
Fungi, lichens, insects had all taken up residence and added new life to that which had passed on.
Patrick talked of the tiny fungi/lichens that were visible not to long ago but eluded of meager vision now.
We may not have been able to see them but no matter, we could see where they had been.
Another landmark on the map that is the life of this tree that still stands with "dignity and artistry.."

Next time you are out and pass by one stop for a while, look closer and listen to the stories it has to tell

"The oaks and the pines, and their brethren of the wood, have seen so many suns rise and set, so many seasons come and go, and so many generations pass into silence, that we may well wonder what "the story of the trees" would be to us if they had tongues to tell it, or we ears fine enough to understand." ~Author Unknown, quoted in Quotations for Special Occasions by Maud van Buren, 1938