Young oak.

Oil on canvas board

7x4 inches

£25

Down on Seven acres, I have passed this tree many times without taking notice. During the dry sunny spell, I was looking for shade whilst attempting to paint. Sitting beneath its branches, I took in its shape, smell, colour. 

The trunk was only about two foot tall, with branches that looked like the splayed legs of a new born impala. It looked top heavy. One major branch (front of tree) had been snapped off, as well as other smaller ones. New growth almost covered the wounds. It seemed someone big and heavy had trodden on this once young sapling. 

Now, as it struggled to survive, rooting into the ruined walls of the old mill, the hot, dry weather became its enemy as it evaporated the life giving water. But survive it has. About twenty years in fact looking at its overall size, especially the trunk. Even as the modern factory encroaches yearly...By R.A.Hall