SCOTTISH sculptor Nigel Ross developed his art practice during his early career in forestry on the Isle of Arran. Now based in Perthshire, he is a regular exhibitor at Roche Court, the New Art Centre at Winterslow near Salisbury.

This piece, dating from 2021, has the evocative name Pictish Oak, and is both a beguiling piece of outdoor sculpture and an inviting bench.

Trees and wood are a central theme of Nigel Ross’ life. After his time in forestry, by the mid-1990s he was working full time as a sculptor and maker.

He carves abstract sculpture and seating from entire trunks of fallen wood, creating continuous shapes and forms – the rhythms and energy of nature being a constant inspiration.

Pictish Oak is a prime example of Ross’s work, made from a single piece of oak.