I went and saw an old friend and muse. It’s incredibly sad to see the 700 year-old Wardour Oak so disfigured. At least it survived the cruel hacking it had three years ago, but it’s now over-sprouting from its chainsawed boughs making it look more like a clipped French poodle than the natural, majestic ancient tree it was.
I think the owner did a criminal act chopping off its branches, but the tree, listed on the @woodlandtrust ancient tree map, is on private land and had no Tree Preservation Order so they could high handedly and legally do what they wanted. They nor their 'tree surgeon' who did the hacking were reprimanded or fined. Even when the Tree Officer I reported this to spoke to them they were arrogantly unrepentant.
The tree stands in a field next to Wardour Castle, an ancient monument that is also 700 years old. It rightly has all sorts of protection. Imagine if someone knocked its walls down, there would be uproar. But this tree, which geminated when Robert the Bruce was fighting the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 is fair game to the ‘tidy up’ brigade.
The trees owner (surely it's the nation's tree) is Baroness Neville-Rolfe who sits in the House of Lords. Remarkably her top area of interest is agriculture. Is it any wonder we are one of the most nature depleted countries in the world if this is the mindset of people setting our laws.
The trunk of the Wardour Oak is 7 metres around. One metre is equal to 100 years. Its chopped branches are as thick as most oak tree trunks. To make things worse, these massive hacked branches are lying in a pile being seasoned. The wood wasn’t even used to make beautiful beams or furniture, it is being slowly chopped up for firewood. 700 years of our history literally going up in smoke.
I'm giving Bluesky a go and, so far, it seems like a nice place. Up to now, no-one (including the owner) has incited rioting. Nobody has conducted a two-hour interview with Donald Trump and I haven't been asked a thousand times to invest in an NFT. Come on over and take a look. Surprisingly cookthepainter wasn't taken, so I'm posting as that……https://bsky.app/profile/cookthepainter.bsky.social
Many thanks to the lovely Resurgence and Ecologist magazine for including one of my paintings in their book review section. The article is available online here
Well, I think I'm done with Twitter. I am a staunch supporter of free speech and try to understand people's views that I disagree with, but for example, I don't believe in religion so I don't go to church, a mosque or synagogue. For the same reason I think Elon Musk is entitled to his views, but when he uses his own platform for two hour interviews with Donald Trump or he incites and encourages social breakdown in another country I'd rather not support it. For me Twitter is no longer a pleasant space to spend time.
Oh, and the Tesla (a brilliant car) that we have will be sold as soon as we can. Sadly at a much lower value than it should be due to Elon blurting out his extreme views which now means most people don't want to buy one.
Huge thanks to journalofbiophilicdesign.com for the lovely article on painting temperate rainforests.
The magazine and website aims to bring knowledge, inspiration, case studies, conversations and ideas to designers and architects help reach net zero and increase biodiversity. The publication is kindly offering a discount if you fancy a read. Use this code: 10JBD
Many thanks to the New Blackmore Vale Magazine for featuring my Temperate times exhibition at the Art Stable, which runs from 22 June to 20 July
Huge thanks to Dorset Magazine for the article on temperate rainforests and letting me chat about trees, paint and fern-spotting. My solo exhibition Temperate times opens on the 22 June at The Art Stable
Looking forward to my solo exhibition Temperate times which opens @TheArtStable on 22 June. I focused on painting some of the amazing temperate rainforests we have here after reading the brilliant @guyshrubsole book The Lost Rainforests of Britain. Less than 1% of these lush mossy forests remain in the UK. All of the paintings on show can be see here
Many thanks to Bruton Art Society for featuring my upcoming solo exhibition Temperate times. Less than 1% of our temperate rainforests remain. Up to 20% of the country would have, should be covered in these lichen and fern cloaked woods. The show opens at The Art Stable, Child Okeford, Dorset on the 22nd June and closes on 20 July. All the works can be viewed here
Huge thanks to @carolebamford and @daylesfordfarm for all the support of the 'ReWolding show in the Glass House, on until 29th April
