Taxus Deadwood Art

I have been playing around with a few images of natural Taxus deadwood in Photoshop. The idea was to create something quite abstract - I guess not so recognisable as wood at first glance. A couple of them came out quite well, I think.

Unique Larch Display at Swindon

One of the displays that got many people talking at the recent Swindon Winter Image Show was a cascade Larch by Andy Smith. As Tony Tickle walked around the show with us, he was drawn to the display and instantly loved it. In fact, many people commented that they thought the tree was Tony's as it included an original choice of materials not dissimilar to elements found in some of Tony's controversial displays.

The tree's rustic pot (complete with holes) stood atop of a rusted metal girder in which Andy had created similar holes continuing the theme. The stand was then artificially rusted by a series of salt baths. At the foot of the stand stood a piece of moss and a stick complete with red fungus.

The rusted metal continued into the accent piece where it worked well with an excellently mossed and planted piece of deadwood. Andy explained how his inspiration for the display had come from the coal mines and he had also taken a piece of coal with him to show, but had decided to leave it out of the final display. The display was completed by a large scroll with wave-like lines which echoed the tree's movement.