Highcliffe Silver Birch – Original Ink Drawin

I sometimes forget just how beautiful weeping silver birch trees are. In winter, they don’t fare so well in the beauty stakes—without their leaves, they often look like overgrown, raggedy houseplants in desperate need of watering and a whole lot of love. But come spring, they really come into their own. Their fresh foliage looks like a sharp, freshly cut 1920s bob before growing out into something you’d expect to see at Woodstock, paired with a peace sign and a badly rolled reefer.

You’ll find this lovely tree just opposite the entrance to Highcliffe Castle in Dorset. It stands outside a classic example of 1970s purpose-built low-rise flats. With the tree now in full bloom, I can almost picture the original architect’s drawings: a tight, three-storey, box-shaped building with a flat roof, a young silver birch out front, and a Ford Cortina parked nearby for good measure. Today the Cortina is long gone, the tree has matured, and I must say, the building still holds up pretty well.

Drawn on location in black ink, this one-off work captures a moment of quietly observed contrast—tree versus architecture, past versus present. It’s part of an ongoing series exploring trees as companions, memory holders, and visual markers in the landscape.

Details:

• Title: Highcliffe Birch
• Medium: Lightfast black ink on 150gsm acid-free paper
• Size: 25 x 25 cm (square)
• Signed: Hand-signed by the artist
• Date: 24 May 2024
• Location: Highcliffe Castle, Dorset
• Framing: Ships unframed (framed image shown for example only)
• Packaging: Sent flat in archival sleeve with board backing
• Includes: Certificate of authenticity