Branch Lines: Drawings of Trees

Why are trees important? There are so many reasons. Ecological, environmental - most of us know that trees are instrumental in regulating the atmosphere, that they help to control ground water, that they provide homes, food and building materials to all sorts of creatures. They are long lived, strong, static, stoic. They can't run away from danger (or artists) but we have learnt, in recent years, that they can communicate and react in certain ways in the short term.

Older trees are survivors, whose physical appearances often tell the story of their survival, and the story of the place that they are rooted in. Trees can tell us a great deal, if we know how to 'read' them.

Sometimes we see illusory figures or faces in the convoluted shapes of trees (and everything else). This is called pareidolia and is an ancient survival mechanism that allows us to recognise danger quickly by matching patterns. I think that this would have affected all of those old folk tales and fairy tales where forests are full of magical, potentially dangerous, creatures. The folk tales hark back to leafier, more wooded times, when we, as human beings, were so much closer to nature than we are now. I don't want to go back in time, but to regain some of that connection would be wonderful. Studying the natural, living history of trees might be one way to do that.

About the artist:

Amanda Bates SGFA (b.1971) is based in Kingsclere and has been working as an artist since 2014. Drawing underlies all of her work, from palette knife oil-painted landscape to the current pen and ink studies of trees.

She is a regular participant in Open Studios West Berkshire and North Hampshire, has enjoyed some success in regional and national Open Exhibitions, including the Presidents Award 2025 and Monochrome Award 2024 (both SGFA), Best Botanical 2025 (Southern Nature Art), and People's Choice 2026 (Swire Ridgeway). She is an active member of the Society of Graphic Fine Arts (the Drawing Society) as well as several other organisations.