Araucaria Araucana depicts an araucaria araucana (more commonly known as the monkey puzzle tree) in a ruined country estate on the outskirts of Edinburgh. The estate fell into ruin when the family who once owned it had financial trouble. It is thought to be the inspiration for the House of Shaws in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Kidnapped. Now many of the buildings are only ruins but the ornamental trees and landscaped garden still exist in an overgrown form. I have been returning to the garden over the years to paint, thinking about the transcendent nature of wealth and human existence.
