Hope 2005 Oil on Linen 750 x 1050mm $4500
The angophora is a unique tree of all our trees. It has the ability to grow its roots in, around, and over rocks in an amazing way. It also changes colour from a soft grey in winter to startling oranges, pinks and purples when it sheds its bark around Christmas. The colour is also cyclic over three years depending on the seasonal conditions. For a short time the bush is ablaze with these wonderful colours and the ground littered with bark confetti, only to be washed grey in the summer rains. Painted off the Putty rd. Colo it is typical of the trees to be found in the Hawkesbury, the greater Sydney basin, and the Wollemi National park.
The final stage of struggle: this tree is the epitome of hope. Its majestic and healthy trunk is bathed in the most amazing coloured robes. It is not until you look at the roots of this tree and consider its hold on a steep slope that you realize this tree was born in suffering. Then its’ size and its’ grandeur assures us that there is always hope in suffering.
“Not only so, but we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us…” Romans 5:3-5