A Beech Wood, Malvern, Worcestershire 1889

David Bates invites us into 'A Beech Wood, Malvern, Worcestershire', a landscape rendered with oil on canvas. The forest is a powerful symbol, a stage for the human drama. We find a small child, hand outstretched to pet a dog, watched over by an adult figure. The forest, as a motif, threads through history, appearing in various guises. We glimpse it in illuminated manuscripts and Romantic paintings alike. Trees, in folklore, hold stories and secrets. Consider how, in ancient mythology, forests are places of transformation. They represent the subconscious, and the unknown. Observe how Bates uses the skeletal trees to create a sense of depth and, perhaps, a kind of melancholy. The forest's starkness evokes feelings of vulnerability, and the bare trees reach upward like grasping hands. It resonates with our collective memories of primeval forests, places of both danger and refuge. The forest whispers of cycles and of inevitable return. The image becomes a mirror, reflecting our fears and aspirations.