Piles Copse

On:
In: ecology, environment, film, landscape, oak, woodland visit

Nestling among the barren wilderness of Dartmoor is one of three rare wild woods. Piles Copse is a woodland mainly comprising pedunculate oak Quercus robur. The trees, festooned with mosses and lichens, are rich in biodiversity. It is an English rainforest, and a relic of woodland which once covered much of the hilly region.Continue Reading

On:
In: woodland visit

The authors have been searching for a few elusive botanical specimens to illustrate for The New Sylva. Yesterday we visited one of the best locations for any tree hunter: Britain’s national arboretum at Westonbirt, in Gloucestershire, which features some 2,500 different tree species. We required samples from a number ofContinue Reading

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, 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: book development, woodland visit

The authors are very much looking forward to an expedition to Scotland to capture some of the nation’s most spectacular trees and forestscapes. In December we will be spending four days researching and drawing various subjects, including the iconic Caledonian pinewood forests. We will post news and pictures of progressContinue 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