In December 2020 I began drawing the stump of the Ash tree cut down in my garden. I had drawn the tree a few times during the first COVID lockdown of 2020. After it was reduced to a stump it became a very interesting subject. The everchanging stump – the growth of ivy, growth, and rot of mushrooms, and proliferation of plants at the base – demanded a continuous series of drawings. This continued until March 2024 when I had to move house.

Toward the end of that time I did some drawings of the stump in the backyard from the tree that had been felled at the same time but had continued to live. Images of these are below.

The following are a selection of the stump from the front garden, beginning with the tree that was. The mushrooms that grew on this are Polyporus Squamosus, more commonly know as Dryad’s Saddle or ‘Pheasants Back’.