Tree of Strength

Download and print the project here 

YOU WILL NEED

• Paints, pencils, pens, paper (or any drawing medium of your choice)
• A camera (if you want to photograph your tree)

ACTIVITY

We’d like to celebrate what makes us strong, often something we are not aware of but is there within us and keeps us going when times get tough. Let’s study the structure of something secure and supportive – the humble tree. This time of the year everything is stripped right back in nature which makes it the perfect time to look at the trees around us. Their strength comes in many different forms, from large muscular oaks, to bendy, flexible willows. The trunks and branches offer enormous support and yet they aren’t all obviously strong like the oak or tall like the pine. Find a special tree that is strong in its own way and that you would like to make a record of for 2021.

If you can’t get out, what can you see from your windows?

Choose your tree- look at it hard and long. Observe how it holds all its branches up, or how the hedges ‘hold hands’. Maybe the texture is more obvious now, what about the patterns on the bark?

Draw, paint, photograph or describe your chosen tree. You may find you want to sketch it several times, each showing a different aspect –its strength, its texture, what it is saying to you?

Look at the structure in terms of its strength and longevity, the ability to withstand whatever life throws at it and regenerate every spring. You could use the images below as an example for your own pieces of work.