As 2021 comes to an end I have over 3,000 images from the year on my computer that remind me of how big the year was.
There are a lot of pictures of trees!
It has been a year of embedding myself in the life of trees. I am no expert just passionate about the natural world and interested in things that can act as universal symbols. In drawing and painting them I appreciate the tree in a whole new way….the curve of the branch, the way the leaves hang, the texture of the bark, the lives that live in or on the tree… so many things. I have read so many great books and listened to many great minds talking about trees. I am humbled by all of this.
I have also worked on some great projects, met some incredible people, heard a lot of hard and heartwarming stories, made a lot of art, juggled 5 balls in the air at once.
Enough.
We pack the van and head south on a road trip to visit friends and family.
We head over the border where Covid has been keeping people locked down so often in the past year. Restrictions briefly lifted we go to a wedding, see family, go to art galleries and theatre. The performers are so happy to be on stage, the cafes, those whose doors did not close, are happy to be back in business. Everywhere people are more cautious, more care full.
We camp by dams and rivers and oceans. We revisit the burnt forests from 2 years ago. Glad to see the regrowth.
Spikes come and go, events are cancelled, restrictions enforced or lifted. The “C” word becomes something to avoid amongst company. Fires are forgotten, floods are swept from memory….
All the while deals are made and plans hatched to open new mines or expand industry to fill the gap in our economy…….
Enough.
Back home again… I head to the forest to get some perspective and to put pen to paper ( Reflections)
This is the way it is. This year, this busy year is almost at an end. I shall find a headland or bush track and make a fire and think about the year and the world to come and my place in it.
Central panel from The Flame Tree - Bronwyn Davies
How to live, I said, as the flame tree lives?
- to know what the flame tree knows: to be
prodigal of my life as that wild tree
and wear my passion so.
( Excerpt from the Flame Tree by Judith Wright)