The Tree of Birmingham was painted especially for Birmingham Open Studios 2022. Although I have never lived in Birmingham, I love the Midlands and went to art college in Wolverhampton and lived in Coventry for 3 years where we bought our very first house. My son, Owen de Visser, went to University in Birmingham and stayed. He started Birmingham Open Studios, which grows every year, and after a variety of different jobs opened his own art gallery and photographic studio in Edgbaston called Lux Gallery.
Owen helped me with the items in the tree, he gave me a really long list of things he found iconic. A lot of them were music venues and pubs! As I was painting we visited him during the Commonwealth Games. He had a couple of photography shoots there and also managed to get a couple of tickets to watch some events. He took us to see the 'Raging Bull'. I was completely mesmerised and he stands to the right of the tree head bowed.
