Several days ago, The Woodland Trust’s current petition link to save ancient trees and woodland popped up on my newsfeed, shared by a friend. Immediately an idea came to me: a man body painted, with a chopped tree trunk rising up from his legs. Body painting is still very new to me. So far my journey has mostly called only for face and baby bump painting. The petition also closes on May 10th – THAT’S TODAY!
Undeterred, I got my paints out and painted a lifelike tree trunk for the first time. I’ve drawn and painted so many trees but the bark detail was a first and really was a challenge for me. For the first hour, I was pretty unsure whether it would even be identifiable as a tree by the time I’d finished. To be completely honest, I considered throwing my brushes down and giving up. Perhaps I’d bitten off more than I could chew? I kicked myself a little for not doing a scaled down bark test on my arm prior to the full paint. The progress images below show the colours and detail building…
In the hurry to get the idea out there, painted and then edited as a poster, I just hadn’t had the chance for a practice run. I was just so eager to raise awareness and get more signatures! Special thanks to Jack, who stepped in to model this with very little notice! Since completion, I’ve shared it on social media a lot. I’ve finally had the chance to sit and write a little bit about the piece and reason behind it.
Trees are such an incredibly vital part of our world. They give us oxygen, they house animals and insects as habitats, provide nest space and rest space for birds, add beauty to our landscapes, give us shade in the summer, and a lovely place to picnic… the list goes on. I’ve been campaigning for trees since I was a kid (I’ll dig out some photos sometime when I’m back in my hometown and add them in below!).
Please, I urge you to sign the petition below to help save our ancient trees and woodland. Today is the last day you may add your contribution, and it takes minutes-if that. Let me know if you sign it, because a related project may manifest at a later point that I’d like to share, especially with you.
SIGN TODAY : https://campaigns.woodlandtrust.org.uk/page/20990/action/1
