This birch tree, in subtle winter light, is close to a pond at the edge of an interestingly varied area of woodland in the lowlands of East Lothian. Since I did this drawing more young trees have grown up in the open area around the birch, so it doesn’t look the same now. That’s not to say it’s not as good now as it was – and what would we mean by “good” anyway? Aesthetically good? Or ecologically good? And for each of those two there could be greatly varying interpretations of “good”. And then there’s economically good… and potential conflicts between that and aesthetically or ecologically good… Whoa! It’s just a nice innocent picture! Perhaps we should leave it at that? OK. For now, anyway.

Details: Coloured pencil; 2010; 30 cm x 21 cm. Unframed: original £200; print £30.

Included in the gallery Trees 1