Methuseleh

These strategies are embodied in the physicality of the trees themselves. The Yew has its lattice of leaves twigs and branches trapping the sun, the sheer mass and solidity of Methuseleh, the slender line of Old Tjikk and the explosive energy of Pando, all reflect a different dance between tree and environment, one drawing life from the other, balancing the conditions that sustain it. 

During Art school I became aware of how the physicality of things can trigger and lead our emotions. The intimacy created through small things, and the awe of the lofty, I found the works of Constantine Brancusi and Anish Kapoor elevating and poignant, not surprising considering the power and elegance of Bird in Space and the infinite interior depth of Void Field

With this idea of the physical prompting the emotional mediated by Art it is easy to draw parallels between the drips of Pollack and the entwined canopy of the Llangernyw Yew, Methuseleh’s weight and volume and the work of Richard Serra, the delicate line of Old Tjikk as if itself drawn in space, and the many related boughs of Pando springing from the same rootstock, same but different, and Gormleys 

As a youth drawing the cliffs of Pembrokeshire, I was struck by the depth of the wet slate and the rare glimmer of fool’s gold held within, a spark of life in the dark. Even more enamored when learning of the conditions of slates formation. Still dark deep waters allow particles to descend and coalesce. Then there are the Welsh waters themselves as they rose and fell in the still grey air.