Emma Buckmaster is a printmaker and a specialist in etching techniques. She lives on an organic farm in Suffolk and is surrounded by ancient woodland. She is particularly interested in recording the oak trees that dominate the landscape. Pollarded oaks often mark field margins and boundaries and oak trees support an incredible range of species including birds, insects, lichens and fungi. Recording these trees captures something of the local history and biodiversity.
Over the last ten years she has also worked on a collaborative project with Janet French to create a series of tree portraits under the name Buckmaster French. The etchings of each individual tree were printed onto paper made from the trees own leaves. The project started with a small image of an oak tree and went on to include beech, lime, silver birch, white poplar, field maple, hawthorn, ash, alder and holly.