A remarkable public reaction to a Keswick Gallery owner’s tribute to the felled Sycamore Gap tree is set to leave a lasting legacy.
Moved by the destruction of the famous landmark and following public demand, Lucy Pittaway painted an image of the famous tree with a Northern Lights backdrop.
She vowed to plant a tree for every print sold and has been stunned by the public response with almost 1,500 prints ordered in just eight weeks.
Lucy, whose gallery is in Main Street, Keswick, now wants to team up with a landowner to use the trees to create a new public woodland.
“The Sycamore Gap tree was one of the most iconic features of the northern landscape and its felling has had a deep impact on many people,” said Lucy. “The tree can never be replaced but hopefully we can do something to ensure its legacy lives on.”
Lucy has a vision of the new woodland being used for recreation and education. Features might include a forest school which children can visit to learn about nature, woodland walks, picnic areas and areas for quiet reflection.
While Lucy has sketched possible ideas of how the woodland might look, it is very much an open canvas.
It could be an extension or addition to an existing facility or a newly created woodland. The site could be on public or privately owned land, though it must be open to the public.
With galleries across North Yorkshire and The Lakes, Lucy Pittaway holds the title of the UK’s most popular published artist, as awarded by the Fine Art Trade Guild.
Her distinctive style draws inspiration from nature and reflects the themes of family, life events and the outdoors. These include many Lakes inspired works including Wrapped in Love, Lakeside Outing and The Best Things In Life Are Free.
She has a vivid memory of visiting the Sycamore Gap tree as a child and her own children visited it on a school trip just a few months before it was felled.
“I was shocked to hear the news and we had several people get in touch to ask if I would paint an image of the tree but I resisted at first as I didn’t want it to seem as if I was cashing in,” she said.
“My twins also raised the issue in conversation and asked me to paint the tree. Then, after receiving many requests from the public via email and messages on our social channels, I agreed to paint the tree but suggested we find a way of giving back.
“As a team we came up with the idea of planting a tree for every print sold and also donating 10 per cent of the sale of the original to The Woodland Trust.”
Nicki Wilkinson, who is business development manager and has previously managed two of the galleries, said: “The response has been phenomenal, firstly from people getting in touch to ask Lucy to paint something in memory of the tree and then secondly in response to the painting with almost 1,500 prints sold in the first eight weeks.
“Hopefully something positive can come out of what has been such a sad event which has impacted so many people.”
Any landowners interested in working with Lucy and creating a new public woodland can contact her at [email protected]