Gregson Park

6: Gregson Park, Peter Masters 2019
 
This particular fig tree sits in Gregson Park in Hamilton, in Newcastle. It’s a beautiful fig, an example of one of the many, many breathtaking trees that sit in that particular park.
 
I enjoy going to the markets in Gregson Park not only for the great markets that they hold there but also because you can walk amongst these trees and feel their presence. This particular fig is called The Magic Tree by locals and it’s called that for a particular reason. The local children seem to choose this tree to play under. It’s the tree, just one of many but this particular tree is also chosen for people to hold their celebrations beneath. People get married beneath this tree, have christenings beneath this tree, and this is the one they all seem to choose. It really is magnificent.
 
A couple of years ago I was exhibiting this high key portrait of a tree in an art festival at Maitland called Artastique where the local shops combine and each one supports a particular artist in their shop windows for the period of a week or so. And people can walk an art trail and try them out. I was given the local pub as my exhibition space which I really enjoyed and I had three or four in there. But when I was setting them up, the publican and his wife came out to look at this, and I was setting up near the bar and they said to me ‘You know, we got married under that tree’. I think those sort of coincidences are beautiful. I hope you like this portrait of a fig as much as I do.

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Newcastle Libraries · Gregson Park Fig