Freya Douglas-Morris’ antidote to frantic times

At London’s Cromwell Place, Freya Douglas-Morris is presenting a series of works that focus exclusively on the allure and fragility of nature. Although she was born and raised in London, Freya creates art that is in stark contrast to the cacophony of the capital. The inspirations for her landscapes are drawn from both personal and imagined experiences – settings that are both rooted in reality yet unreachable in their magnificence.

The works’ depth-of-field is often masterful. The first piece that lured me in was Lily,  a magnificent blend of expansive colours and proportions. A common theme in Douglas-Morris’ landscapes is to incorporate the elements of nature, such as land and water, to create a sense of perfect concordance. This piece seems to be taken straight out of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, not a staged version, but from the essence of Shakespeare’s idea, pulled straight from the bard’s mind.

The lack of human life in these paintings, or any life for that matter, creates tranquillity to the point of eeriness. But the more I look at them, the more I feel that the trees, lakes, and mountains are themselves alive, characters communicating with one another. As much as the art is easy on the eye, it also provides a darker message about humanity. I can’t help but think that where I am sitting now, in front of a screen and surrounded by concrete, was once grassland with oaks and spruce all around, with the unpolluted Thames glimmering in the distance. The changes humans have made to the world are irreversible, and this hard truth is conveyed through Douglas-Morris’ work.

The final piece I want to talk about is Golden Birch. Arguably the most otherworldly of the works on show; the gleam of the sun, with its infectious warmth, brings us to the zenith of pastoral beauty. The three layers of depth created by trees in the foreground, a solitary pine by the lake and the background of mountains, again shows Douglas-Morris’ ability to create such expanse within a confined space.

Her scenes depict places where we might find ourselves reflecting. I can just imagine somebody behind these landscapes, sitting amongst the trees and watching the sun slowly fall with a paintbrush in hand.