Kate Anderson
Meeting Trees
Spanish Chestnut at Croft Croft, Herefordshire
The Borrowdale Yew(s) Borrowdale, Cumbria
The Major Oak Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire
The Original Bramley Southwell, Nottinghamshire
The Selborne Yew Selborne, Hampshire
The Tortworth Chestnut Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire
Umbrella Tree at Levens Hall Kendal, Cumbria
Westonbirt Lime Tree Westonbirt, The National Arboretum, Gloucestershire
These ink drawings are part of my ongoing ‘Meeting Trees’ series, in which I travel the country making portraits of heritage trees from a little book called ‘50 Great British Trees’. Between them, the trees tell a sprawling array of events and stories, from historical fact to legends and folklore, that have trickled through the generations. With the possibility to exist for hundreds or even thousands of years, trees are exceptional living witnesses to our histories. Rooted, steadfast presences in collective consciousness, they breathe life into our stories and connect people across the ages.
I am an animator and illustrator telling stories through digital and analogue drawing, comic strips, film and installation projection. Alongside commercial projects and commissions, I produce my own moving image work for presentation at film festivals, galleries and online. My work brings together observational documentary with subject research, peeling through layers of time, a gentle humour often present.