Big Tree Art

Drawing by Robert Van Pelt

Robert Van Pelt's book Forest Giants of the Pacific Coast is one of my favorite big tree books. The author has a unique passion for trees, and a talent for not only finding record-breakers, but also carefully measuring and accurately rendering them.

His painstaking depictions separate the champion trees from the forest, and each has its own unique and special character. I also like the depiction of the tiny humans at the base of Van Pelt's drawings to give the giants a scale we can relate to. You can see how massive these ancient trees are.

Van Pelt's work inspired us to take a look at some of our own tree-related art.

photo: Linda Hughes, Photons In The Forest

Linda has a knack for taking interesting abstract photos with our point and shoot digital camera. This one was taken in the Royal Roads forest in Colwood. She says it is an accurate depiction of the sense she feels while in the forest and around ancient trees.









This is a pen and ink drawing of a favourite local tree that has been leaning out over Sooke Harbour for a hundred years or more.


 The Leaning Tree, Gregg Koep

Leaning Tree and Hummingbird, Linda Hughes
This is the same tree, also in pen and ink.

Up The Sooke River, Gregg Koep

This pencil sketch depicts the Sooke Hills and the Highway 14 bridge crossing the Sooke River, as seen from the harbour.

Coastal Conifer, Gregg Koep

Yes, I am obsessed with trees - I can't even prepare a meal without being sidetracked by their allure and beauty. This piece almost made itself as I stood at the counter. The two dimensional sculpture is made from: Garbanzo beans for the tree, and dried kidney bean pods for the ground.