High on the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily there is a survivor from the last ice age, the Mount Etna Birch. The bark patterns of these trees seem to almost mirror the harsh and sometimes dangerous volcanic landscape. I photographed this cluster of birch while hiking up the lava fields on a glorious spring day. Botanical name Betula aetniensis

From our exhibition at the Arundel Gallery Trail August 2018. Sculptures by Manny Woodard. Paintings on right and left by Penny Gambrill.

This Silver Lime Tree was growing alongside the busy coast road near Cascais, Portugal. It caught my eye as I was walking down the street. At first I walked past it and then after a few steps something told me to go back and photograph it. There was something special about the pattern where the trunk diverged at about chest level. Botanical name - Tilia tomentosa

The bark of the Stone Pine varies enormously depending on the environment where it is growing. The silvery grey tones in one area of this particular tree caught my eye as I walked past it on a steep residential street in Estoril, Portugal. I’ve yet to see another one like it. Botanical name - Pinus pinea

“Dagala” is a word in the Sicilian dialect for pockets of forest that remain intact after the lava from a volcanic eruption has flowed around them. The word means “spared by the mercy of the almighty”. A few feet away from where this tree grows is a recent lava flow that obliterated everything in its path. But this Black Pine and those around it were spared. And they continue to thrive high on the slope of Mount Etna. Botanical name Pinus nigra

Trees of the same species growing near each other sometimes display surprisingly different bark patterns. The Maritime Pines in the forest of Sintra Portugal have grey flat areas of bark that could be mistaken for slate. The bark on this tree is one of the most stunning I’ve ever seen. Botanical name- Pinus pinaster

From our exhibition at the Arundel Gallery Trail 2018. Sculptures by Manny Woodard.