Celebrating Trees Around The World

November 27, 2018

As we begin to think about decorating our homes for Christmas, central to this vision of festivity and fun is a tree.  Bringing trees into our homes in the middle of winter is an ancient pagan tradition, which is still going strong around the world today, albeit some of them may not be made from wood and many are heavily laden with tinsel, beaming with bright lights and big baubles!

I am therefore dedicating this blog to the tree and sharing some of the designs that I've created which feature forests and woodlands. First up is my illustration of Sherwood Forest, which I was commissioned to do by the RSPB.  I played in Sherwood Forest and specifically its most famous tree: The Major Oak, as a child, which is the star of this design.  Wildlife gather to pay homage to this centuries old living organism and even Robin Hood has to take a back seat!

Next up is my illustration of the State of Minnesota where woodland goes on for mile after mile, helping to form the state and US border to Canada in the north and the state line to Iowa and Wisconsin in the south-east. The State tree is the Norway Pine and there's plenty of them in my design of Minnesota.

Over to the west, Washington State is also home to millions of trees and the firs in the Grove of the Patriachs remind you of their power. Western Hemlocks are the state tree for Washington!

The mountains of Europe are covered with trees and my Cityscape of Lake Maggiore in north Italy is one of my favourites. 

Closer to home, the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire was once known as Little Switzerland and is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Look for more forest filled designs on my website, which grow by the day :-)

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