Trees in Art

All artwork above © by Laura Medei
Laura Medei has developed a whimsical, dreamlike style with her paintings and sketches of trees (above) and her artwork never fails to delight and inspire me when I visit her Flickr album of sketches. If you enjoy her uplifting style as much as I do, why not check out the rest of her beautiful art?

1 2 3	I recently found the book, The Night Life of Trees, on our public library shelf. Wow! Exquisite! Myth and poetry, vision and artistry combine to illustrate the deep connections many indigenous peoples have to all of Creation. These vivid tree portraits were created by Bhajju Shyam, Durga Bai and Ram Singh Urveti. Each volume is hand-screen printed and hand bound by Tara Publishing. The book is filled with intricately drawn visions of trees ... from the Gond tribe in central India, (who believe) trees stand in the middle of life and the spirit of many things lie in them. Trees are busy all day giving shade, shelter and food. Under the night skies, spirits of the trees are revealed. The Night Life of Trees is a tribute to the majesty of trees, and to old ways of relating to the natural world. Left: the first tree made by the Creator the Peepul tree is so perfect that seen against the sky, it has the same shape as its own leaf the Earth is held in the coils of the snake goddess. The roots of trees coil around the earth too, holding it in place
	Ruby-Scented Dawn, by Catherine Hyde, an artist from UK. Hyde makes exceedingly beautiful christmas cards as well. Some of her tree images remind me vaguely of dreams, of Matisse, of childhood paintings made by smearing blackberry and chokecherry juice on concrete sidewalks ...
	Robert Ryan, a paper-cut artist and illustrator, often depicts trees in his incredibly intricate paper-cuts and screen prints. Click here to see his papercut galleries or click on the images, left, for enlarged views. Below is a collaged photo of Robert's studio, originally posted on his blog, titled (ummm...) Robert Ryan. Another artist working in the paper-cut medium is Peter Callesen, who lives in Denmark. Though his medium is similar to that of Robert Ryan, Callesen's papercuts (left) are relatively simpler, though still incredibly elegant, and he often focuses on fairytales and constructs room-sized cut-paper installations as well. His website has so many beautiful pieces it was hard to choose just one to showcase here.

Trees in Poetry & Prose

photo by Maureen Shaughnessy © Native Trees Neither my father nor my mother knew the names of the trees where I was born what is that I asked and my father and mother did not hear they did not look where I pointed surfaces of furniture held the attention of their fingers and across the room they could watch walls they had forgotten where there were no questions no voices and no shade Were there trees where they were children where I had not been I asked were there trees in those places where my father and mother were born and in that time did my father and mother see them and when they said yes it meant they did not remember What were they I asked what were they but both my father and my mother said they never knew -W.S. Merwin©

photo by Mika Hiironniemi © Breath Tree, gather up my thoughts like the clouds in your branches. Draw up my soul like the waters in your root. In the arteries of your trunk bring me together. Through your leaves breathe out the sky. - J. Daniel Beaudry © published in Nature in Legend and Story

Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky, We fell them down and turn them into paper, That we may record our emptiness. -Kahlil Gibran, from Sand and Foam

photo by courambel on flickr © Under the Walnut Tree When I face what has left my life, I bow. I walk outside into the cold, rain nesting in my hair. All the houses near me have their lights on. Somewhere, there is a deep listening. I stand in the dark for a long time under the walnut tree, unable to tell anyone, not even the night, what I know. I feel the darkness rush towards me, and I open my arms – Lynn Martin © From Blue Bowl (Blue Begonia Press)

Alone with myself The trees bend to carress me The shade hugs my heart. - by Candy Polgar © Woods I part the out thrusting branches and come in beneath the blessed and the blessing trees. Though I am silent there is singing around me. Though I am dark there is vision around me. Though I am heavy there is flight around me. - Wendell Berry © from Collected Poems (North Point Press)

photo by Ric McArthur © Fern-Leafed Beech This tree listened when my husband died. I leaned my head against its trunk and cried. No words passed, but I took its strength and knew that life at last secretly transforms until what is seen becomes unseen, and what has been is still to be. -Moyra Caldecott©

a few other links:
Solitary Trees
find other poets' work at Gratefulness.org
Trees in Myth and Legend
Spirit of Trees

Top 4 US Fires in Montana

The wildfire burning just 10 miles from Helena, Montana blew up from 20,000+ acres on Tuesday to 31,000 acres by Wednesday. The fires in Montana and other states around the west are getting national coverage, though in my opinion, not enough is being said about how wildfire is an important part of the natural cycle and the fact that some of these fires are being "allowed" to burn is a perfectly reasonable way to manage the fires. If the fires were put out now, the threatened areas would eventually burn anyway -- and often will burn even more drastically becasue of the natural buildup of fuels.


The New York Times reported on Wednesday:

Firefighting crews in Montana battled the four top priority wildfires in the West on Wednesday, blazes that have led to the evacuation of hundreds of people.

In a normal year, Wednesday would have been the beginning of the summer fire season in Montana, but drought has put most of the state two to three weeks ahead of schedule and more hot, dry weather is forecast.

It's going to be a long season,'' said Warren Bielenberg, fire information officer for the Lewis and Clark National Forest in northwest Montana.

The No. 1 priority for firefighters Wednesday in the West was a blaze in the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness north of Helena that had blackened 31,238 acres, or about 49 square miles. Residents of 60 homes southeast of Wolf Creek were evacuated Tuesday, adding to residents of at least 60 other homes that were evacuated earlier.

The fire was moving north toward Holter Lake, a popular recreation area, and through a wildlife management area. It was about 25 percent contained but was expanding Wednesday toward evacuated areas to the southeast, where hand crews, aircraft and bulldozers worked to build lines and keep it in the wilderness ..."

To all who have written in concern for our safety in Helena, I just want to reassure you that we are fine -- the fire is 10 miles from the city and so far no one's home has burned. The firefighters are doing an outstanding job of protecting people's homes and animals. Still, your prayers are appreciated, here and all over the west where drought is making the 2007 fire season so much worse. Thank you! -- Maureen

Plant a Tree

Old Apple Tree, Copyright by Maureen Shaughnessy

Do you want to plant a tree (or 2 or 3) yet
a.) keep putting it off until you settle down in one house for a long time?

buy a house?
b.) figure out exactly what you're going to do with your garden so you know exactly where to plant the tree?
c.) have enough money saved to afford a large tree?
d.) decide what kind of tree you want to plant?
e.) other?

Well ....

The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now. -- International Society of Arborists

Weeping Tree over Bench, Copyright by Maureen Shaughnessy

HOW TO PLANT A TREE
So .... What are you Waiting For?
Click here for a fact sheet on planting a new tree.


a few facts about trees, listed on the International Society of Arborists website:

• In one year, an acre of trees can absorb as much carbon as is produced by a car driven up to 8700 miles.
• Trees provide shade and shelter, reducing yearly heating and cooling costs by 2.1 billion dollars.
• Trees lower air temperature by evaporating water in their leaves.
• The average tree in metropolitan area survives only about 8 years!
• A tree does not reach its most productive stage of carbon storage for about 10 years.
• Tree roots stabilize the soil and prevent erosion.
• Trees improve water quality by slowing and filtering rain water as well as protecting aquifers and watersheds.
• Trees provide food and shelter for wildlife.
• The death of one 70-year old tree would return over three tons of carbon to the atmosphere

If you love trees, and want to tell other people about it, please head over to the Festival of Trees coordinating blog to find out how to participate in the next festival. Click here:

I will be hosting Festival #15 for the month of September, at Raven's Nest (aka Water Earth Wind and Fire) ... so check back here around the 1st of September to see more about trees from all over the world.

Meriwether Fire Makes Its' Own Weather

Meriwether Fire Makes Its' Own Weather, originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.

I know that in many places all over the globe wildfires are burning places that are dry as a bone because of years and years of drought. Montana is one of those places. In some parts of the world, heavy rains after long drought have encouraged vast amounts of plant growth -- only creating more fuel for the fires to devour when the land does dry up again as it has in Montana. So, I know we are not alone in living with wildfire almost every summer. Though it is hard to breath some days, and the smoke makes our eyes sting, I feel grateful that our home is not threatened. And grateful to be alive. Never take our lives for granted!

Today this truly gigantic cloud formed over the Meriwether Fire in the mountains north of Helena. Thereis NO way I can capture the enormity of this cloud formation in a photograph. It towered over the city of Helena and over our valley. You can see the mountain ridgeline at the bottom left of this photo. This cloud was mostly smoke from the fire.

What's really incredible to me is that just yesterday, we couldn't see more than a few blocks in town and today, the air was much clearer, though just half hour after I shot this photo, the billowy "softness" had dispersed and the cloud was just an ordinary thick haze of hazardous smoke again.

Worth viewing Large on Black background

Montana Wildfire: too close for comfort

Meriwether Fire: too close for comfort, Copyright by Maureen Shaughnessy

Here is what my town, Helena, Montana looked like yesterday at 1:35 pm. The smoke blew into town from the Meriwether Fire just north of town near the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness. The Forest Service's air quality level was the worst so far, with visibility at less than one mile. It was actually way less than one mile at the moment I shot this photo -- I couldn't even see across town just a few blocks away.

The Helena Cathedral's twin spires are barely visible in the center foreground. The mountain range on the north side of the valley are completed invisible. The fire is at the moment burning basically uncontrolled, though the Forest Service and other firefighting teams are trying to protect structures and homes in the path of the fire. Folks living in the area have been asked to evacuate. Some people do and others just want to stay home to protect their own homes and animals. I'd hate to have to make that decision!

Here is the same view of the Helena Valley last Winter, crystal clear air:


I shot a slightly different angle this April:

Please pray for all of the land that is crispy dry and threatened with wildfire, or that is already burning.

The above photo is on the Helena Independent Record Flashpoint page, a regularly updated page of information about the fires burning in and around Montana. Click the photo to go to the article about the fire, written by Martin Kidston.