Painting of a London plane tree as seen from below. There are no leaves on the branches. The sunlight is bright and crisp, creating shadows around the trunk of the tree. The sky behind the branches is a vivid blue.

Lacewood. 2025. Acrylic and permanent ink on paper. 29cm x 40.6cm.

Lacewood. 2025. detail

Lacewood. 2025. detail

Painting of a London plane tree as seen from below. There are no leaves on the branches. The sunlight is bright and crisp, creating shadows around the branches of the tree. The sky behind the branches is a vivid blue.

Lacewood. 2025. detail

I sat down beneath a tree by a busy road and looked up. Winter made it leafless but definitely not dead. Lacewood is another name for a London Plane tree and describes the patterns sometimes found in the timber when it’s cut in a special way. I think the work looks like an explosion or a network. I guess it’s both.