From the wild to the tame
from w
I've often been interested in the space between the wild and the civilized, from the forest to the planted farm, from deep ecology to the organised city. I find that over-organised living spaces are uncomfortable, locked doors, shut windows, things like that. I love walking through a forest where small living creatures are not disturbed though I couldn't live there - with snakes and creeping things. I like verandahs, gardens and outdoor living. Perhaps tha's why I fitted easily into the lifestyle in Fiji. But as more and more forests are destroyed, and trees are felled, there won't be a lot of jungle/forest left and if we have to live in tightly knit apartments with rules (such as in Geneva) that you can't flush a toilet after 11 p.m., then I won't call that human living!
Over Christmas at Greendale I did some sketching outside a very modern home and it was so noticeable - that there are three kinds of spaces - the tall timber at a distance, flowerbeds mainly of pansies and cement nearby, and an indigenous constructed garden in between which is perhaps a firebreak which is necessary in this kind of landscape with so much timber. I made three pen sketches and back home made two paintings, but as usual, never satisfied, I messed about with shapes and textures using a computer program, Photo-edit. Click on any picture to enlarge to see details - which look a bit scary at times and remind me of the 70s!
A better way to show the three different sections would be to use different techniques for each part so that is next!
posted by Peceli and Wendy's Blog at 6:34 PM
4 Comments:
It's sad that too many people will not protect our environment and so we are losing it quickly. If they are not careful, one they will wake up and find it is too late and what will they do then--probably "recreate" wild forest groves and rocks out of some kind of plastic or "man-made plant fibers"?
annie3
Too true Annie. Do you have wilderness landscapes where you live? We are fortunate in the Geelong region to have great beaches and also some wilderness areas close by - in the Otways where there are old forests, but there is also timber logging. The 'green' movement is strong in Australia but the Greenies have to persistly argue for keeping wilderness areas.
Yeah, plastic make-believe forests - how bizarre!
w.
Yes, Wendy,Out in the Texas boonies, most of what we have are large areas of wilderness. Up in the panhandle, the land gently rolled to a horizon that seemed to stretch to infinity-- gorgeous sunrises and distant storm light shows, but hail from them and drought from little rain made it hard to farm. Down here in West Texas, there are Mesquite trees, everywhere and dry creeks that have not been able to show off a runoff from rain for some time, so the deer come nibbling close to our houses. Feed lots and now dairy lots are threatening areas with pollution but they also give jobs to people badly in need of them. Always, life seems to be a mixed bag--right?
annie3
Thank you Annie for your comments. Some of the words you use are not familiar at all. What an amazing world we live in with such variety. I love clear skies and rolling hills. In Peceli's home area in Fiji it is called babasiga which means scorched hills - grassland rather than trees and of course it's hot. Unfortunately (or fortunately if you look at it another way) much of the land there was taken over by small sugar plantations with Indo-Fijian tenants and Fijians lost their medicine trees, house-building bamboo, weaving materials, etc.
In my drawings I do tend to use tropical colours which are not correct for the Australian landscape which are more grey, bluish greens.
w.
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