When the waves of pandemic locked down London, Rachael Weitzman found escape and refuge on Hampstead Heath.
Her exhibition of paintings made during this period is a celebration of the green space and its ancient trees.
She describes her works with oil on linen, or acrylic on paper, as 'portraits' of trees. Inspired by Japanese prints and 20th century abstracts, the paint forms a lattice of trunks and branches dappled with light or silhouetted against the sky - evoking the strange rather than the picturesque.
A North Londoner, when she first visited the Heath she lost her bearings and was amazed at its size - loving the feeling of being lost in a wilderness.
"There is something really magical about this area of woodland, it's so unusual even outside London to find such ancient trees in non agricultural land. The people who manage it have done such a fantastic job of maintaining it in an unspoilt way," says Weitzman, who is a graduate of Chelsea College of Art.
The Heath In The Waves which runs at Highgate Gallery, comes at a time when the Heath celebrates 150 years since the Act of Parliament that saved it from development.
In recognition of the way it has been a solace to many in recent times, 10 percent of sales from Weitzman's show go to conservation charity Heath Hands.
The Heath In The Waves runs from October 1-14 at Highgate Gallery, Highgate Lit and Sci, South Grove, Highgate.
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