ink jet print, metal leaf mounted on wood panel, 2022
This massive black walnut tree towers over the surrounding trees and shrubs. If you'd like to meet this amazing tree yourself, head over to Leslie Log House, 4415 Mississauga Road near the Credit River. You'll also find old fruit trees that were part of the Riviere Fruit Farm. The coyotes love this spot too, so if you have a dog keep them on a leash.
Nicola Woods is a fine art photographer born in England and now living in Toronto. Nicola holds a MFA from Johnson State College VT and has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Canada and the USA, including most recently the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair and the Riverdale Artwalk. Her work has been featured in several online articles including "An Interview with Nicola Woods" by the London Urban Tree Festival, and "Spotlight: Nicola Woods on her Unique Process” by Yonge + St. Clair (BIA).
As a proud tree hugger Nicola celebrates the blossoms of our tree friends by creating shimmering images that resemble early forms of photography such as daguerreotypes. When Nicola spends time in nature, she is captivated by the way light filters through the tree canopy and how sunshine glows through a leaf. She brings these beautiful qualities of light into her work by layering her transparent photographs over metal leaf. The metallic backgrounds glow and change according to light conditions lending the images an ephemeral quality.
In this tree flower series Nicola draws her inspiration from the beauty of tree blossoms and their symbolic meaning. She explores how tree flowers mark time and herald spring and embody qualities of love, peace and serenity. Nicola also intends the images to serve as a reminder of how precious and temporal life is. Through the images she is transmitting an invitation from the trees to cherish life in each moment, for every moment is as fleeting as a blossom. For the viewer Nicola offers these photographs as a means to enjoy the delightful and refreshing vitality of spring all year long.