Gold and Silver Birch (Snelsmore Common)

Snelsmore Common is a little oasis of nature between Newbury and the M4. It has fascinating wildlife and geology - and its silver birch seem to have turned orange. I wondered if it was some sort of lichen, but it's too fine for that. Tristam Belstaff, from Reading (around 20 miles from Snelsmore) suggests on his blog that it is an alga called Trentepohlia sp. I'm happy to go with that, even if he was talking about a tree in Reading.


Of course, I have used a bit of poetic licence when naming this painting, but that's what art is all about, and it is vaguely golden in colour... It's certainly rather stunning when the sun catches it.

The painting is based on photographs that I took on Monday while scouting out a walking route. The sun was barely out, but there was enough information to recreate the brilliance that I held in my mind.

I took several in-progress shots and have assembled them into an animated gif:

Gold and Silver Birch
Oil on linen, 40 x 80 cm

£350 framed