The Oak Wood

Watercolor & 24-ct gold leaf on paper, 22 x 22 cm, Private Collection

Here the influence is more from European medieval art. The hound and the birds are larger than the trees because in this story they have more importance. I have spent a lot of time researching and looking at medieval manuscript illuminations, such as those that accompany 14th-century French composer Guillaume de Machaut’s songs. The paintings of animals and trees in the Livre de Chasse, a French book about hunting written by Gaston Phebus (circa 1387), are amongst the most beautiful I’ve ever come across. The oak woods in my painting are suggested by simplified tree shapes. Hounds are also often depicted in medieval tapestries. This hound is running through the trees and the birds are spectators: a peregrine, a magpie, a goldfinch and a lark. What is the hound running from? Or towards?

Detail