On:
In: art, woodland visit

There remain many botanical parts of trees to be drawn and a few whole trees to be depicted by Sarah Simblet, yet a forest visited this week by the authors will be one of the last whole treescapes to feature in The New Sylva. The authors visited Brechfa Forest GardensContinue Reading

On:
In: art

Common hazel (Corylus avellana) is one of the first of our trees to flower in very early Spring. In time with nature, while their pendent ‘lambs tail’ catkins are emerging, so is a drawing of a hazel tree for The New Sylva. Sarah has been working on a drawing onContinue Reading

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In: art, news

The authors are searching for the finest example of a common ash (Fraxinus excelsior) tree to feature in The New Sylva. We hope that our readers can help by submitting their favourite ash trees – one of which will be selected and appear in the book frontispiece. Following the outbreakContinue Reading

On:
In: art, woodland visit

Day two of our Scottish drawing expedition took us to the southern shore of Loch Rannoch. We were in search of a treescape that would enable us to feature birch and water together. We had a specific place in mind for where the drawing will feature in the book. TheContinue Reading

On:
In: art, woodland visit

Yesterday our Scottish Drawing Expedition for The New Sylva got underway. In search of Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) we had travelled to one of the last remaining and best examples of Caledonian Pinewood: the Black Wood of Rannoch, in Central Scotland. High above Loch Rannoch, on an undulating heather-clad ridge,Continue Reading

On:
In: art

Sarah Simblet’s concentrated work drawing tree leaves and fruits for The New Sylva was interrupted this week with the invasion of hundreds of young toads (Bufo bufo) hopping past the open door of her Oxfordshire studio. This time of year the young toads leave their watery birthplaces to start a terrestrialContinue Reading

On:
In: art, quote, woodland visit

Earlier this week the authors visited a very unusual and special woodland. Lying at the heart of the UK Prime Minister’s official country residence at Chequers is a woodland of box Buxus sempervirens. Box is known to many as a small shrub that is used in finely clipped hedges andContinue Reading

On:
In: art

Regular readers to this blog will have noticed that we have not posted for a while. Gabriel Hemery has been immersed in writing, while artist Sarah Simblet has been working flat-out trying to keep pace in drawing the dozens of species coming into leaf and flower during April and May.Continue Reading

On:
In: art

The authors are keen to include some drawings of the feathers of British woodland birds in The New Sylva. Can you help by providing a beautiful feather from a jay or tawny owl, a woodcock or perhaps a great spotted woodpecker? We are looking for the attractive feathers of oneContinue Reading

On:
In: art, photo

This is the latest in my Elm series; my last image being Ghost elm. I captured the shadow of a very large and healthy Cornish elm Ulmus minor subsp. angustifolia growing in East Sussex. It is one of the last large elm trees remaining alive in England, following the spreadContinue Reading

On:
In: art, woodland visit

The authors visited Devon recently on the search for a number of trees and forestscapes for The New Sylva. Followers of The New Sylva on Twitter (@newsylva) will know that our first stop was the ancient oaks of Wistman’s Wood on Dartmoor, followed by a successful search for one ofContinue Reading