Trees and how important they are to us have been very much in the news since the senseless felling of Sycamore Gap tree near Hadrian’s Wall.
One of the UK’s oldest trees, however, is thankfully still standing, right here in Kent, in Penshurst.
The magnificence of the Seven Sisters Chestnut is just one aspect of the natural world celebrated by artist Lucy Homer Jones in her new exhibition, Seven, running Nov 3 to Nov 16, at Kingdom in Penshurst.
‘The [Seven Sisters] tree is very powerful, and the perspective of looking up reminds me of cathedrals, which were designed to feel as if they were rising up to meet the heavens,’ says Lucy.
‘ I think this is what the tree would feel like in its natural state, a spiritual place rising upwards into another world.’
The title of Lucy’s exhibition refers not only to the tree but to the seven colours of light – violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red - with which Lucy paints, with works created during her six-month residency at Kingdom.
During that residency, she also explored the panorama of the countryside from sunrise to sunset on a daily basis and the view up from the valley to Kingdom, with the results on show in her exuberant, colour-filled abstract paintings.
Says Lucy, ‘I focus on capturing the vitality of the natural world around me. I want to bring joy to the viewer and share a deep love of the landscape through my paintings. My work is poised between what I observe and how I feel.’
Seven runs at Kingdom from Friday Nov 3 to Thurs 16 Nov, 2023 9- 4pm.
Meet the artist: Sat Nov 4 2- 4pm, Fri Nov 10 12- 2pm and Sun Nov 12 10- 12 noon.
