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Tuesday, 19 May 2020

Sentinel Trees

Welcome to Sentinel Trees, an exhibition of miniature art works from 13 artists and 9 authors. 
We are excited and pleased to be part of the Urban Tree Festival 2020.https://urbantreefestival.org/

Artist: Barbara Dougan Writer: Natalie Low

Barbara's artwork with a Japanese Maple

It is below me, earth; it is above me, trees.
One day I lie on the green grass for too long,
long enough for the blades to feel alive and crawl over my edges.
The sky is full of sun, and my eyes empty of people.
Everything is a pastel pixelation, out of focus.
I have learnt I see better this way, without screwing up my head 
and so I see you now - underground, underwater, under the air.
Normally you hide, between today and tomorrow.
It is below me, earth; it is above me, trees.
We are both pale and shivering, quivering.
If you stripped off my papery skin, would we be the same inside?
And what would I find in your memory in rings?




About the Writer

Natalie is a frequent contributor to CollectConnect and is a writer and a researcher.

About the Artist

'Linnet' is one of a series of films reflecting on everyday immersions in a world of affective resonances, and how the body comprehends the sensations it is open to at all moments. Through selective film and sound recording and editing, the work aims to transfer an intensely subjective exploration of an environment as an embodied experience for others.
This film records reflected trees in the lake formed in the Linnet River at Ickworth, Suffolk, on a brilliant Autumn day.
Video and editing Barbara Dougan, sound Conal Dougan



About the Bonsai

A classic bonsai subject this cut leaf Japanese Maple is about 12 years old. Japanese Maples or Acer Palmatum are one of the most common bonsai subjects and there are hundreds of cultivars world wide. They have attractive foilage, respond well to being pruned and display beautiful leaf colour in the autumn.

Artist: Ian Parker Writer: Lucy Furlong




Darkwood

Sentry, I creep past you each day
as I walk home along grey pavements,
drag my hand across worn fences.

In the middle of the path,
roots wrestling with tarmac,
wild custodian in the suburb.

At night I fly into your branches,
sucked into your dark heartwood.

About the Writer

Writer, teacher and walking artist


About the Artist


Ian Parker was born in Wolverhampton and lived in England, Guyana and Nigeria as a child. Educated at Wimbledon School of Art, Kingston Polytechnic and the Royal Academy Schools, on graduating he undertook fellowships and residencies at Cardiff Institute of Higher Education and Newcastle Polytechnic. Primarily a painter, his work references the vocabulary inherited from 20th century non-figurative practice within an expanded notion of the nature and practice of painting. He has exhibited since 1977 at venues including the Hayward Gallery; Camden Arts Centre; Guildhall Art Gallery, London; Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff; Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh and Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam. More recent exhibitions include: Brute, ARTHOUSE1, London (with Srin Surti); Supporting Material (With Amanda Loomes), Herbert Read Gallery, UCA Canterbury; Sussex Open at Towner 2018, Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne and BLENDER, The Cello Factory, London (with Bryan Benge and Srin Surti), 2020. He held full and part-time academic posts from 1980 until retiring as Head of School, School of Fine Art, UCA in 2015. 

Bonsai

The Japanese word 'Bonsai' has no convenient translation into English. Harry Tomlinson in The Complete Book of Bonsai gives this accurate, but by his own admission, not very concise translation, 'A tree or shrub pruned in such a way so as to resemble a full-size tree, grown in a shallow container for artistic effect and as an impression of nature'. 





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