“In producing these landscape images, I am trying to illuminate the shape of the light in the trees. Oaks, being spiritual creatures, are the most difficult trees to paint, because there is always the feeling that I haven’t quite caught the essence or personality of the living plant. It is not only the shape of the branches but also the shape of the light, the negative spaces between the branches. Each tree has worked hard to get it right, to be as beautiful as it can be, and I am obligated to do it justice.

Some are en plein air, some were started outdoors and finished in the studio, others are from my own photographs. In all of them I tried to evoke the living tree and how the colours of the light affect the shapes of the leaves and branches.

These new landscapes are mainly from my recent trip to Healdsburg, in Sonoma County, California. Since it is impossible to paint everything, I decided to focus on the oak trees and vineyards, as both are very ancient and symbolic in nearly every culture.”