Artist's thoughts
"This watercolor and pencil sketch, of a Field Maple tree, was part of a project I had set myself to produce a drawing or painting a day, over twenty days. The theme is all trees! Why trees? Simply, because I love trees. Trees are structural – great to draw, transient, beautiful, dark, mysterious, textured, organic and affected. Every one of them is individual, like human beings, they have their own personality and own history. Trees feature in many aspects of human history and folklore and so there is often always a story associated to specific trees or species. In fact, we can’t live without them! My aim is to capture the spirit of specific trees which I have encountered on my many travels around the local countryside. I posted this project online, to view it please visit my Instagram page."

All the trees are local to me and I travel near and far to sketch them from life. You can visit them too, I’ve also included the location, have fun finding them!
 

•     Original, only one available.
•     The third image includes the research I did for the specific tree, please see   below for full text.
•     This painting comes beautifully framed and double mounted.
•     All the sketches are original pieces
•     Size 31.5 (H) x 26 (W) cm

The Field Maple – Other names, the Fairy Tree

Location: Ditton Fields, Cambridge, UK

Native to the UK

This tree was a tricky one, for me, to identify; it looked a little like a Hawthorn from afar, yet close up it has seeds like the Sycamore. The only native Maple, it’s believed that once the branches of this tree were hung around doorways and windows to deter Bats from entering. The wood is used for making Harps and other musical instruments and the well-known herbalist, Culpepper, recommends its bark, to strengthen the Liver. Other than that, there is virtually no other folklore surrounding this species. But, I have to say, this tree always looked very much like a fairy tree. It stands alone in a field, is very gnarled has a certain feeling to it. It’s always a good idea to show respect and to never cut down a fairy tree; in Ireland roads are often diverted to avoid cutting one down. Many types of other-worldly beings live in or close to fairy trees, including the High King and Queen of Fairies. Oh and don’t leave babies to sleep by a fairy tree, you may never see it again!