Oil Painting 750mmx1050mm The Angophora (or Sydney Apple) is a tree which changes its colour depending on the season. Its bright orange trunk is very distinctive on the eastern coast of Australia. So much so that all my life I have been fooled by the tree. As I started to paint this tree one hot January, its orange red bark an artists delight, I assumed that I could spend my usual ten weeks painting it. To my dismay about four weeks in I noticed that a recent rain had bleached the colour and it was fading fast. I was painting 4 angophoras at the time so I had a mini crisis on my hand as I like painting on site and my subjects for this summer were fading fast. I was half planning on coming back the next year. Consulting a local tree expert I discovered they have a three year colour cycle as well. Orange, deep red purple, and pink violet(see other paintings in my galley) So I was stuck. I was forced to work rapidly on the trunks first (normally latter in preference) and catch the backgrounds up. More than this I realised I had been seeing angophras all the time and hadn't known it. Most of the year they are gray trunked. So thus the name. Hot December - reminding me to start painting these trees early December for it is the Hot December that causes the bark to peal to reveal their wonderful new cloths.