“Shorn of their leaves and baring their trunks to wintry light, trees can be just as eye-catching in January as when they are dressed in their summer finery. I am particularly drawn to their barks – the detail and variety, the patterns and rhythms and colours –  photographing as many as I can find. This has inspired a series of paintings based on the surface of each tree trunk. Immersing myself in small patches of bark led to their shapes and colours and energies evolving, distilling, and – eventually – branching out into abstraction. The paintings are small, reflecting the close viewpoint, and each group includes the photograph which inspired them.”