Duality in Art and Life : city vs forest

I love the city.

I love the architecture.

 Its just BIG functional art.

 When I catch the bus to work, I travel past all the city's eclectic mix of structures...

I love maps.

I love their aesthetic quality. 

They remind me that we are like little ants going down many different pathways.

I love the forest.

I love the multitudes of trees, with branches that overlap and intertwine...

and roots that become part of the earth.

I love to be.

I love to be in these places,

 that are so different, and yet so connected.

So I've been working on a diptych of dichotomy.

 The dual of people vs planet.

What are side are we barracking for I wonder?

The forest or...

the city.




It is International Year of the Forest - lets take care of them
.... invest in them and we invest in us!

Texture in Nature -Year of the Forest

"A nation that destroys it's soils destroys itself.

 Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people"

Franklin D. Roosevelt

This forest's mojo is ever apparent to the humble guest, and so my snaps are merely a clumsy attempt to convey its  verve.

Recently we spent four nights in the Bunya Mountains National Park, which is 200km northwest of Brisbane, Queensland. The Bunya Mountains are an isolated section of the Great Dividing Range that played a significant role in Aboriginal culture.  The Bunya's are simultaneously peaceful and energetic.  But, if you look closely, you see great textures...and colours... and lines..and shapes...........   

It is International Year of the Forest and in the name of balance I couldn't resist another forest quote:

"If a tree falls in a forest and lands on a politician, even if you can't hear the tree or the screams, I'll bet you'd at least hear the applause"

Paul Tindale

Sharing at this great photography blog:

Atlas Journaling: drawing hints from an eco artist

Sometimes a white blank canvas is so stark it almost stifles creativity and mark-making.
So I've binned the whole pristine visual journal concept and have replaced it with....the humble atlas.


Mine is the Road Atlas of Australia 7th Edition. It is circa 1980's -the kind of atlas I had at primary school. It was such an unloved book that it was in the "Free, please take" bin at a Rotary book sale (sniff).

These sketches are just observations with a sharpie and pencils. The lines of the roads in the background provide great distraction, omitting the need for perfection. The maps provide an additional layer of interpretation. 


I would try this style of drawing journal with a written book too, as text works wonderfully with illustration e.g my previous dragonfly work.

Dragonfly Project Link

A great benefit of atlas journaling is that any drawing can simply be torn out and framed. The other benefit is that you are recycling....yeah eco-art materials!


Incidentally, the works are from our recent holiday in the Bunya Mountains, a rainforest smack bang in the middle of country Queensland- who would have thought?

Mount Coot-tha Forest (Place of Honey)

Today we ventured  to the soul of Brisbane... Mt Coot-tha  which is aboriginal for Place of Honey. We go there often- it makes me feel connected. 

But my absolute favourite time to go is during heavy downfalls when all the crowds run away  to bunker down in their dry houses. It is with this torrential rain that  the forest comes alive with powerful waterfalls- it transforms. I have lived here most of my life and really only witnessed this for the first time last Christmas Day, just before the floods.

Today, the weather was sunny and the people  flocked in numbers I hadn't seen in a while.

What a great forest.....

What a great tree.....

Remember it is International Year of the Forest- treat them kindly.

International Year of the Forest- Art Tutorial

Forests are magical places..ask any child. Adults feel it too! Haven't you?


It's not just that we grow up with the fables and legends, so many of which are located in forests, it's so much more that that; it's everything from the floor to the canopy - the animals, the fungi, the noises. They are spiritual places.

In Australia we have the rainforests on the coast & the old growth forests of Tasmania, small parts of which are still largely untouched and pristine. But we also have the dry open forests with gums and wattle or the forests of wallum that dot the sand dunes. So many of these areas are still under threat by development, all in the name of ticky-tacky suburbs and highrises. 

For those in America, England, Europe and Asia the concept of forest is different again. All unique, all beautiful. Please share...

International Year of the Forest is a time to celebrate and hopefully educate - these artworks  convey some glimpses into a child's concept of forest. These are by 9 and 10 year old boys who were so excited by the topic that the room was all abuzz with a positive energy.


The results were everything from scary.....

....to sparse (loving that sugar glider!)

  

.....to flourishing and healthy

...to devastated yet hopeful.

... to dynamic, totemic, scary eyed and more.....

What to hunt and gather:
Coloured paper, glue, black and white pencil and tracing paper.


What to do:
Tear the paper in long strips and play around with creating tree shapes. We used 2 or 3 colours to layer the trees and we discussed creating different levels and looking at the negative spaces.

Next:
Add some more detail such as animals and leaves.

Now the final layer:
Tear some tracing paper into a tree shape or leaves or animals..whatever...
Using a white and black pencil add detail and highlights. I show the a slideshow of detailed forest images to stimulate ideas and provide some extra visual knowledge to draw from.

Wow! I just love all the different interpretations of FOREST.
In so many ways this was a learning experience for everyone.