Linden Tree (Lime) by Fiona Phipps

Lovely sketch Fiona.

That was quick George……thank you!

That is superb!!!

I worked as an under gardener on an estate where there were several old Linden trees. One of which was a silver linden/Lime, every summer when it flowered I would fine masses of dead bees beneath it and half eaten. Scientists still ponder this phenomenon, it isn’t proven that it’s toxic, but could be that it contains caffeine? I did witness great tits feeding on the intoxicated bees…..maybe this hasn’t been witnessed by an ‘expert’ yet.

This is spectacular, beautifully drawn , love the inks you have used and used them with great success Fiona , the colours the texture just everything about it is superb.

I can see some signs of this homemade ink… probably because I was involved in the joint process of producing the stuff! This is really good, I’m genuinely impressed Fiona… I love this subject which does also help!

A superb drawing Fiona and such an interesting story about the silver linden tree.

Your use of homemade inks and oil pastel perfectly captures the ancient spirit of the Linden trees, blending artistic technique with a deep sense of history and folklore.

Wonderful sense of textures Fiona.

Excellent Fiona

Fabulous Fiona.

Super drawing.

Fabulous tree Fiona! What are your inks made from? I think you mentioned walnut ink once?

Wonderful piece, love the textures and muted natural colours.

Thank you very much David, Paul, Alan, Val, Lea, John, Heather, Denise, Sharon, Tessa. I am always grateful for your feedback and generous comments. Tessa, the ink I made, and have used on this sketch are Acorn ink, Oldman’s Beard ink and Oakleaf ink. I collected the ingredients locally and processed them at home, then bottled them. The Acorn ink is a blackish grey, the Oakleaf ink is a pinkish colour and the Oldman’s beard ink is a raw sienna colour. I have used walnut ink but I haven’t made any…..yet!

Just fabulous Fiona! Love the minimalist background and hearing about your homemade inks and of course about the magical trees themselves.

Andrew, Sarah many thanks for your kind words…..glad you like the old tree.

Tessa, forgot to add……the Oakleaf and Oldman’s beard inks were made from two types of lichen.

Fiona - you’re not a witch are you? Ha ha, love the result.

An interesting tree - lovely sketching, Fiona!

I can only agree, fabulous work !!

wow, that's amazing!

You have done this very well Fiona.

Great textures, subtle colours, I love everything about this!

Really eye catching piece Fiona, terrific!

Thanks Fiona, that’s fascinating, and hopefully I have given you an idea for another variety!

Love the subject and you have captured it perfectly Fiona.

Superbly vibrant sketch Fiona

A great gnarled tree Fiona.

Recognised this as one of yours, Fiona - very characterful old tree, lovely colours and textures.

Ooh I do like this Fiona, the beautiful aged marks, so cleverly done.

A really brilliant "tree portrait".

You've given your tree fabulous character and age. Clearly your eclectic palette mix aids this but the result is all you. Wonderful!

I’m humbled by all your kind comments and appreciation of my scruffy sketch…..thank you very much. Marjorie, it’s funny you should ask me that, I don’t know why but I have several friends that say the same thing!😂 They keeping giving me gifts that have a witchy vibe to them!

Super sketch Fiona, and it has a certain charm to it

Thank you very much Trevor, glad you like.

I love this ..so evocative and thank you for info on your homemade mediums..

Thank you Lesley, appreciate you taking the time to look and comment.