Description
I skim low to the river’s surface, and I came across a stand of precious, grand, old trees. These trees are twisted and gnarled, shaped to the powerful surge of the river in flood. As I edge closer, manoeuvring around splayed, overhanging limbs, I feel their living presence. I sit quietly, breathing their expelled air and enjoying the cool shade and habitat from their crown.
In the kayak, I am at the same level as the tree roots and thick branches, twisted and splayed. When I make connections with these Trees, they reveal to me how, through their beauty and strength they are lessons in endurance and adaption, and acceptance for life in a riparian environment. The riparian habitat is a special place between where the River and Land meet.
This unique artwork uses my process of bathing the watercolour paper in the Clarence River and makes this drawing one of a kind. Every time I trudge down the steep slope to visit the River, the water infuses the colours and pencil marks into the paper quite differently.
