In 2002 the Tree Council chose 50 trees to celebrate the Jubilee. One, a black poplar, is in Alan’s parish. He decided to paint all 50, making studies of each in situ.
This involved travelling to many parts of the UK over a period of two years, and included the Fortingall Yew in Scotland, possibly the oldest living thing in Europe. At Westonbirt National Arboretum, the original lime can no longer be seen as one tree but has now become a copse of small trees amid bluebells. Painting Kett’s Oak, a tree closely connected to the Kett’s Rebellion of 1549, meant painting by the roadside on a windy plateau in December.
They are all oil on canvas, 61 x 46 cms. They are intended to be seen as one whole work, as exhibited at the Gordon Craig Gallery, Stevenage.
Alan Burgess, painter 