North Yorkshire artist plants woodland to honour Sycamore Gap tree

Artist Lucy Pittaway painted the Sycamore Gap tree after being "inundated with requests"

A North Yorkshire artist, who painted the Sycamore Gap tree, has started planting trees for every print copy she sells.

Lucy Pittaway, based near Richmond, said she was "inundated with requests" for artwork of the tree, following its felling in September last year.

She has so far sold nearly 2,400 prints and planted 600 new and mature trees.

The artist hoped a new woodland would revive the Swinton Estate, where diseased trees recently faced felling.

The 20,000 acre Swinton Estate, near Masham, is privately owned and includes the Swinton Park Hotel and cookery school.

Lucy Pittaway said she wanted to "give something back", as well as painting the picture

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, the 49-year-old spoke of her connection with the single sycamore tree - which stood in a gap on Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland.

"It is just a place that I recall from being a child, when I visited on a school trip," she said.

"In fact, my teenage twins had visited the area not long before it was felled.

"We were all just extremely moved by what had happened. Like everyone else, we were rather upset at how it had spoiled an iconic location."

The Sycamore Gap tree was one of Britain's most photographed spots

Ms Pittaway explained she was apprehensive to paint the tree at first, saying she "didn't want to be seen to capitalise on a tragedy" but the large number of requests encouraged her to go forward.

However, she felt as though she needed to "give back" in some way during the project.

"I was very keen to donate from the sale of the original painting but I wanted to find another way of doing something much more exciting," she said.

"One of the team members said, 'how about we plant a tree for every print we have sold' and I said that it was an absolutely brilliant idea."

The total sales have almost reached 2,400 copies, which would see a large woodland be planted on the Swinton Estate, next to the 200-year-old Druid's Temple.

The first 600 trees were planted on the Swinton Estate in April

In April, Lucy and her team went out to plant the first 600 trees, which were mainly sycamore along with oak, rowan, hazel and other native trees.

The area welcomed the new additions, after undergoing widespread felling when a fungal disease swept across the larch trees.

The pathway to the Lucy Pittaway Sycamore Gap Trail would be formed by chippings from the felled trees on a woodland walk, which would also feature artistic installations, areas to relax and education boards.

The artist added: "I've been overwhelmed with the response. There's been a lot of emotion around the tree being felled and people have bought the painting for that reason - they've either visited the site or it meant something to them in another way.

"Hopefully the woodland is going to be a space where people can enjoy and see regeneration, new trees and where there was once diseased trees that have been felled."