- 01 TREE FRAGMENTS | Bark with grey lichen
This gallery contains images made in response to details of the life cycle of trees and plants in hedgerows and woodland in Northumberland. Line, shape, form, pattern, texture and colour were of particular interest. I liked the dusting of lichen on this tree bark.
- 02 TREE FRAGMENTS | Bark with a first exploratory ivy stem
Given time, this tree could be tightly bound in increasingly heavy ivy growth from the ground to it's high branches.
- 03 TREE FRAGMENTS | Medallions of lichen against a smooth dark red bark
The soft red of the smooth bark surface and the finely textured and overlapping medallions of lichen appealed.
- 04 TREE FRAGMENTS | A rotting tree with woodwork tunnels under disintegrating bark
A standing trunk with lower branches intact was riddled with the tunnels of wood boring beetles. The thick grey bark was cracking like freeform paving before breaking away to reveal the timber itself. Green algae flourished in the dampness around the deep fissures in the tree bole.
- 05 TREE FRAGMENTS | Bracket fungus in the overhead fork in the main trunk of a dead tree
The bark had largely disappeared from this dead tree. The plates of the bracket fungus were growing in an arc in the junction of the trunk and a major branch.
- 06 TREE FRAGMENTS | Verdigris tinted bracket fungus growing in a fissure in a dead standing tree
More than one size of wood boring insect seems resident here. I liked the contrast between the copper verdigris topping on the fungus against the brown tonal range of the wood.
- 07 TREE FRAGMENTS | Dried leaves contained by the contours in a fallen tree trunk
Dried leaves from the previous autumn collected in a trough in the trunk of a fallen tree are lit by bright spring sunshine.
- 08 TREE FRAGMENTS | Moss covers the cut trunk of a felled tree set alongside a brook
A once substantial tree grew amongst others on one bank of a brook running close to a minor country road. Cut down some time ago, the stump's flat top is home to a spread of brilliant green moss encouraged by the sheltered and moist conditions. The roots have been undercut by the stream and the greys of the decaying wood are accented by darker lichen growth.
- 09 TREE FRAGMENTS | A profusion of bracket fungus at ground level on a decaying tree bole
I don't' recall ever seeing such an exuberantly fresh growth of bracket fungus as this one. Growing just above the grass, its arc enclosed almost half of the trunk's circumference and caught the best light of the day. The tree was set on a ridge that might once have carried a fence or hedge above the level of track and field.
- 10 TREE FRAGMENTS | Bracket fungus growing on the saw-cut face of a felled tree
In form these were like a bizarre white and green glazed ceramic bracket cake stand carrying strangely coalesced edibles dusted with pine needles.
- 11 TREE FRAGMENTS | Chainsaw teeth marks, annual rings, wood chips and rain combine
The contrast between the lines of the regular growth rings and those in the freeform arcs cut by the chainsaw teeth appealed. The whole images reminded me of aerial photographs of agricultural land being worked by plough, harrow and seed drill.
- 12 TREE FRAGMENTS | Chainsaw teeth marks, annual rings and arcs of bark on a conjoined stump
Following the previous agricultural analogy, this might represent a ploughman's challenge
- 13 TREE FRAGMENTS ! Autumn rain enhances the red of the growth rings of a recently cut tree
Recently cut through at ground level, the natural tone of the conifer wood is enhanced by rain and the camera's predilection for reds.
- 14 TREE FRAGMENTS | Young fern fronds grow against the dark greys of a felled tree stump
A more casual glance at the grey background in a different context would suggest grey stone rather than decaying wood. I liked the way it enhanced the bright spring green of this fern settling into a promising home.
- 15 TREE FRAGMENTS | Soft browns and fawn tones and decay lines transform this once hard timber
The fan-form lines in the wood echo those in the previous image but the colour range is completely different.
- 16 TREE FRAGMENTS | Nettle and goose grass leaves against a stump in advanced but dry decay
I walked past this hedgerow tree stump for years with the occasional vague thought that one day I might carry a camera to record it. By the time I took this shot it was amongst the flanked by sections of a tough hawthorn hedge and fronted by the spring stinging nettles, goose grass and other roadside plants. Using a tripod and long arms I managed the task from the tarmac without treading on any of them.
- 17 TREE FRAGMENTS | Ivy crowns this woodland tree stump
A tripod would have been useful here rather than chancing that one of a number of hand-held camera shots from a woodland path would be sufficiently sharp: it's acceptable.
- 18 TREE FRAGMENTS | This stump is home to lichen and other plants in woodland shade
The decaying top of this tree stump is home to a vigorous woodland perennial. Ferns and ground cover plants shelter its lichen-splashed flanks.