War and peace

Lebanon's glittering rivers and glorious trees enrapture artist Tom Young, but he doesn't shy away from painting the scars of conflict, reveals Octavia Pollock

-  Octavia Pollock

FOR Tom Young, painting is like breathing. 'It's a very natural thing for me to do, it's how I respond to the world around me,' he says.

'In situations where there is conflict or displacement, or trauma, art can help in some sort of healing process. When there are barriers, it can transcend them.'

Mr Young's work is all about making connections, finding common ground and shining light on dark places. Art and adventure alike are in his blood: his great-great-aunt was Marianne North ('Follow the North Star', September 27, 2023), the pioneering botanical artist who 'went to just about every corner of the earth. She seemed to be able to settle anywhere,' he says, admiringly. Her mentor was Edward Lear, who made his name painting the cedars of Lebanon. His grandmother, Dorothy Vaughan, was brought up in India and would take the young Tom out painting in oils: 'I grew up with her stories of travel and how she used her art to connect to the local people.'

A formative experience came when he was 11 and he was taken to Palestine. 'My mother died when I was 10 and her sister looked after me,' he explains. 'My aunt and uncle were, let's say, politically edgy. I remember them having arguments with the Israeli tour guide and IDF soldiers, saying "you call this a holy land, but you don't look very holy to me"' Attending a Christian school and singing hymns about those places, 'I wondered why we knew about them and why they were important'. He also experienced Islamic ways with his father, Christopher Young, a criminal court judge who worked in London and the East Midlands. 'After Mum died, I started to go to functions with the Islamic communities there and learn about this other culture.'