Rebekah Curtis

I used to find wintry trees bleak. I would count the weeks till spring’s first eruptions of green. Now I see how beautiful their bare structures are, reaching up to the sky like hands. Asking the sky for something, almost.

Your pencil can have real freedom when throwing bare branches onto the paper – mimicking with speed the energy with which the trees have flung themselves outward over time.

Winter light is special too: it is low, direct, brilliant. Together, winter’s light and trees can be magical.

These sunbeams lit up in our local woods one misty morning. I drew this picture the next morning from a photo I took, using pencil, an eraser and a little black pen.

This drawing makes me happy as it rekindles that morning light. But I also drew it to celebrate inner-city countryside. These woods and their river, tucked inside the city of Bristol, are home to otters, kingfishers and herons. We should treasure these peaceful portals to the natural world.

Leafless woods used to make me sad. Now I find every season individual in its beauty and smile on my winter walks.   🙂