Fallen London Plane Tree Leaf. Oil on Board 4.5ins x 6ins.

I found this leaf outside the Abbey National on Queen Street Cardiff. I thought it was an interesting shape, and also facinating because it hasn't changed colour yet. Actually I have often thought it odd that the leaves on the trees on Queens Street Cardiff don't actually change colour and fall off like one would expect of deciduous trees, but kind of stay green and gradually fall off over the entire course of the winter. I've often put that down to the fact that the Urban environment is usually a few degrees warmer, and I dare say the fact these trees often get bedecked with Christmas lights from like mid November to around February does help keep them cozy on those cold winter nights. Good will to all trees :)

However having done some research to find out what type of leaf this was I discovered it's the leaf of a London Plane tree and according to Wikipedia the London plane tree does have quite tough leaves and fallen leaves can take a year to break down. It also says this type of tree is "very tolerant of atmospheric pollution and root compaction, and for this reason it is a popular urban roadside tree" So that must be why the leaves last so well it's a special indestructible tree specially suited for the Urban environment. Actually these type of trees are found in many cities the World over so are very popular.

It's in the Trees! Oil on Board 4.5ins x 6ins

When I was doing this painting it kind of reminded me of the opening line the the Hounds of Love by Kate Bush "It's in the trees! It's coming!" Actually trees do kind of resonate to the undulations in the wind and the whooshing sounds of the leaves are almost like the white noise on an FM radio. I suppose if one transmitted a voice in the waves of the wind the trees could pick up the voice and one could make the trees talk, maybe by using a tree downwind as a transmitter and maybe one could make another tree speak in a long breathy whisper, like an Oracle of the Gods, which might I suppose explain the whole thing.

Actually it has also been scientifically proven that plants can pick up human emotions and communicate with each other so maybe they are talking about us behind our backs plotting to take over lol.

Then of course there are mobile phone masts in the US disguised as plastic tree's and when we all have the chips implanted the government will be watching us and tracking our every move with the fake plastic trees (see: Andre's Blog) It's in the trees! It's coming! :)

See Video: Kate Bush - Hounds of Love

Tree and Roof in Winter 4.5ins x 6ins Oil on Board

This is a painting of a tree I can see growing above the houses from my front window, well it's actually to the side, but I have a sort of window bay and I can see this tree as I write this entry in my Blog, I dare say it's on Richmond Road.

Sometimes you get a really nice sky behind this tree. I loved the way there was a mixture of cool blue, purple and this mad yellow blue which would be a totally impossible colour if it were not seen in context. I mean it looks yellow and it looks blue and it doesn't look green. It's a colour that could only exist in a sky, or a painting of a sky. Almost like a new colour that seems to break all the rules of colour theory, quite amazing when you think about it a contradiction that just should not be, and yet there it is just like magic. :)

Traffic Island Tree. Oil on board 4.5ins x 6ins

This is a painting of a tree on a little traffic island not far from where I live. Quite an amazing tree really, it's almost symmetrical and has a shape which I suppose kind of makes it look like it has teddy bear ears, or even reminds one of a love heart. I don't know why it has grown in this shape, I wonder whether it's because of the CO2 from the car exhasts, trees love CO2 Never mind global warming, so are just the thing to drive past in your SUV. In fact there's a Landrover Discovery in the background :)

I'm quite pleased with this painting. I wanted to keep it lose and fresh and use an alla prima impressionist technique rather than work it all out in a monochrome underpainting like I often do, particularly with very detailed paintings. So once I'd sorted out the initial drawing this painting was completed in about 2 to 3 hrs whilst listening to Coast to Coast AM where I think they were talking about global warming strangely enough.

This painting is 4.5ins x 6ins and painted oil on board (masonite).