ARTIST Lucy Patrick is exhibiting her latest body of work at Moretonhampstead Health Centre in which she is aiming to ‘entertain, distract and engage’ patients while they wait to see a doctor.

The exhibition The Way of the Tree opens on January 15.

She said: ‘Underlying the work is a serious message about the environment and human’s interaction with nature, whilst also encouraging people to take note of the different sorts of trees that surround them.’

She uses a variety of media such as oils, collage, photographs and even rubbings from plants that she finds near the trees that have inspired her work.

Her interest in mapping and relationships between people and places led her to draw a spiral on a map of her home town of Moretonhampstead and to set out to find 27 trees that are located on this spiral.

She said: ‘This has been a real process of discovery. I have found trees nearby that I had previously not known existed even though we have lived in this town for nearly a quarter of a century.

‘The aim of this show is to share with viewers this method of revealing the unfamiliar within a familiar setting.’

Since graduating in Combined Arts, Lucy has been regularly exhibiting her work throughout the South West, London and Birmingham. Some of her community artwork is currently being exhibited in Betton, Brittany.

Lucy will be encouraging visitors to the show to think about their own favourite tree in the town and locating it on a displayed map.

They will also have the opportunity to purchase the work through Greenhill Arts at greenhillarts.co.uk).

A percentage of the proceeds from the sale of her work will go to the local charity St Petrock’s supporting people experiencing homelessness and local tree-planting charity, Moor Trees.