The Lonely Oak, Halstead

Artist's notes: The Lonely Oak grew near my old studio - I painted this portrait in loving remembrance of it's magnificence and awesome beauty in all weathers and seasons - never failing to make my heart skip a beat when it came into view on arrival each morning.

I always wondered if the tree might be lonely, exposed in the middle of a field with no others trees to connect with and I learned of something known as the "Wood Wide Web"; a vast, underground network of fungi that connects trees and plants, allowing them to communicate and share resources like water and nutrients, creating a cooperative forest ecosystem. This symbiotic system enables trees to send chemical signals about threats like insect attacks, helping neighbours mount defences, and even share resources with seedlings. 

Could loneliness have been the cause of it's fate in the spring of 2020 when it came into leaf for the very last time?  I remain heartbroken that it died suddenly later that year.