Yews & Trees

Ancient trees have been venerated through the ages, their fabulous presence a significant element in the spirit of the landscape.

Researching sacred sites of Britain led Hans to discover the ancient yews of the British Isles. These remarkable trees can live for many thousands of years and marked sacred sites long before the advent of Christianity and the churchyards with which they are so often associated today.  The enormous age of many yew trees, botanists now agree on up to and over 2000 years, make them one of the oldest living organisms on earth.

Hans Diebschlag has been portraying these trees in watercolour since 2004 and has made two research trips to Wales as well as numerous excursions nearer to home to photograph new subjects.

Yew trees also feature in the series of paintings on the life of the Tibetan buddhist saint Milarepa so visit the Milarepa gallery for more images of yews.

Publications
Two of Hans's yew paintings are included in the book "Yew: A History" by Fred Hageneder (2007 Sutton Publishing) also published in German as "Die Eibe in neuem Licht" (2007 Neue Erde)

Text and Images Copyright Hans Diebschlag All Rights Reserved.