Love Trees
I am sitting listening to storm Ciara looking forward to starting the next work in my Love Trees series.This will be another inspired by a photograph taken by Carin Poeschel-Livingstone of a Eucalypt.
The Love Trees series really began with my piece for the Melbourne Arboretum which was auctioned to help raise funds for tree planting (see earlier posts for more about this). My next two works were inspired by a walk round Westonbirt Arboretum last autumn. I highly recommend a visit here if you are in the area. Both these pieces (along with one other) are available to purchase through the arboretum.
I have always found trees an inspiration and as there are over 60,000 species there is plenty to inspire!
However, on a more serious note , they are being destroyed at an unprecedented rate.There are so many reasons that this matters, apart from their majesty and diversity they are the lungs of the earth.They absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide and release oxygen through photosynthesis. Trees also help prevent flooding, in simplistic terms they do this in several ways including the interception of rain by the leaves, the holding together of soil by their amazing root systems which in turn create passages through the soil for rain water to flow. And of course trees are home to thousands of different animals ! Oak trees alone support hundreds of species of insects. For more detailed information on the benefits of trees to our planet please visit sites such as the Woodland Trust www.woodlandtrust.org.uk. Such organisations are a mine of information as well as protecting and enhancing our woodlands. Spending time walking among trees has great health benefits including reducing stress and helping to relieve symptoms of depression. It has also been reported that trees secrete chemicals linked with improving the immune system ! So next time you are looking for something to do why not look up your nearest arboretum, woodland or forest and go visit them and breathe in that fresh air.