Exhibition celebrates the beauty of trees
A new art exhibition is on display at Linlithgow Burgh Halls, called ‘Turning Towards the Light’, a collection of oil paintings and drawings illustrating ancient trees around West Lothian.
No booking is required to attend the exhibition which is running until June 26.
Local trees illustrated in the exhibition include ancient trees from the farmlands around Beecraigs, and Yew trees around Abercorn.
The flowing charcoal and oil paintings aim to capture the sense of light and movement, while exploring the ‘complexity, vitality, and sculptural presence of ancient trees.’
Behind the exhibition is Tansy Lee Moir, based in South Queensferry who previously worked as the Howden Park Centre’s artist-in-residence.
For 25 years Tansy has used art and creativity as a medium to support marginalised communities in community development projects throughout Central Scotland.
Locals who wish to meet the artist behind the exhibition will be able to do so on April 16 from 10am to noon.
Tansy Lee Moir said: “Ancient trees have a story to tell, they’re really exciting to draw - there’s so much history and variety to all of them, it’s a subject I’ll never get bored with.
“I grew up in Derbyshire, just by Sherwood Forest, the setting that inspired Robin Hood.
“I remember when I was really young and you could climb inside the major oak, one of the tallest trees in the country - that magical feeling never left me.
“People just ignore trees as if they’re part of the background, but each and every one of them has so much to say.
“Ancient trees are huge and wide, they bend and contort trying to face the sun - dead wood is baked into the tree and the surroundings - the more complicated a tree looks the more likely it is to be old.
“There’s loads of Yew trees around the church at Abercorn, they grow and fall down, before growing back again in a cycle of regeneration.”