This monumental painting, the first of Kenneth’s Lyrical Series, evokes the memory of the dark forest which surrounded the home where Kenneth grew up in the remote
Gloucestershire countryside near to the Forest of Dean. The trees are portrayed stiffly upright, recalling ships’ masts (as many of them may have one day become), and only a
single avenue allows daylight through the dense green and brown hues of the canopy
above. As the trees meet the water’s edge, they merge with the green trails of waterlilies and weeds in the lakes, and the promise of open skies is seen within the reflection upon the water. Webb’s choice to show blue skies, an iconic symbol of hope and freedom, predominantly in the water rather than above the trees, is perhaps a subconscious statement of being ‘trapped’ indoors. Heightened during lockdowns but a universal, eternal theme for all of us, trapped in some way, at some points in our lives, whether by health or age or confidence or pandemic sometimes we see hope in the least likely of places.