Dancing Tree

I owe so many people for their support in making this one... first Yvonne for putting the pressure on to make something for the ASV exhibition at the Flower Show. Then Mal Wood for taking my experimental work and coping with the inherent difficulty of an experiment and the deadline... and getting an amazing result...wow! And - there's more - Andrew Bryant found some timber lying around and turned it into the base for the work...... all that to produce an object from an idea - thank you everyone...

Stage one was the experiment: to see if bronze woven wire can be used to support a wax sculpture for a lost wax casting.

the wax - on  bronze woven wire

That was tricky - the micro crystalline wax I used was too soft... so the work was floppy and had to be cut into multiple pieces - a total learning experience - but now I'm on the journey and can make more complex pieces... I hope.

the first view of the bronze casting after it has been reassembled

There was some holding of breath and then mad exultation when Mal and his team showed me the casting - it danced - it lives!

 Then to find a base to present the work - much thanks to Andrew!

Burning is magic too

Thanks Andrew.... then assembly and patenation - alchemy!

And finally the pear.... it's been a while since I cast work in the kiln... now I can get a reading on how my power consumption goes: 



Two molds went into the kiln on the Saturday afternoon.... I tried to pick the time when there wouldn't be a "curb your power" moment... just made it!

two castings and one to be used on this tree

And then... oh yes David helped me get the work out of the car and set up at the show.

image: Rob Anderson Photography

image: Rob Anderson Photography

and then... thanks everyone.... the work won a second prize in the Garden Section... and it sold! Am I a lucky one!

"Dancing Tree" in its new home - thank you everyone!

And this one says....

"Pardon me thou bleeding piece of earth..."

Thus spoke Shakespeare's Mark Anthony addressing the newly dead Julius Caesar of his need to negotiate with Caesar's murderers. I'm regretting my complicity in the economic system that made these trees "surplus to requirements".

The trees were planted in 1916 - in a paddock of thistles. Henry and Dolly and their six month old baby put their first energies into establishing the orchard - and it bore fruit in 1920. You can see the fine grain of the annual rings - but I know now how this one will go so I won't sand any more until the shape is ready.

More of the story in an interview with Aimee Volkofsky at http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bushtelegraph/tree-pull-sculptor/5095778

Collecting Fruit Wood

There was a touch of panic after I decided to start this project - it was just forming as an idea when I heard that the trees being pulled out at Shepparton would be burned as soon as they had dried out - and before the fire season started. So with help from people in the fruit growers association I set off to Shepparton in a rented moving van - fortunately with a friend - and looked at the mountains of trees awaiting their fiery end.

remains of the William pear trees

Three great piles of William pear trees that were already planted and growing there when Marley's father bought the orchard in 1948 or 49. All around other trees were blooming - their fate sealed by being a different variety suitable for the fresh fruit market.

Packham pear blossoms

new apple trees leaning out of their double rows

apple blossoms

As it turned out the orchardists were flat out that day - there was a storm with rain coming and the trees had to be sprayed beforehand. All around you can see the different way the newer trees are trained - apple trees in double rows leaning out must yield their fruit more readily and likewise open to the sun as needed.




One thing I was glad to have was a strong Dutchman to cut, and roll and wrestle the big ones into submission:

Trees

What if we paid a tree tax in our petrol price and planted trees to make up for the fossil carbon put into the air when we drive? According to this article there isn't enough space..... http://www.ptua.org.au/myths/trees.shtml
If each car needs 600 m2 planted out as trees per year and there are 2 million cars in Victoria that's 1,200,000,000 square meters = 120,000 hectares or 12,000 square kilometres every year - if Victoria is a total of 237,629 square kilometres then in 19 years the whole of Victoria will be covered in trees and there will be no place to drive a car... pretty cool eh? I'm looking forward to my excursion to the bio fuel place.... turning green slime into diesel looks good.... short circuit the million year fossil process..... so trees as carbon offsets work if there are only a few people doing it. But if you actually want to solve the problem we need something that will work when we all do it.

The same with the green power that I would like to buy but I'm not - for one reason or another - at the moment. When I look at my fuel bill right now it says 100% of my energy consumption comes from fossil sources and causes greenhouse gas emissions. But all in all Victoria's power comes from coal, gas, hydro and wind and some people have grid interactive photovoltaics on their roofs - bless them. So all the people who pay the extra to do their bit for the environment are actually having all the existing sustainable sources of energy counted in their contribution - seems like their money isn't making as much of a difference as it should. Or as they intended - if I pay the extra I want to see sustainable energy over and above the government's MRET produced in this state. And reflected in the way my bill is presented.

Well this article on green power accreditation says it all works - the green is because it's all new sustainable generation - post 1997... well I'll breathe deep and buy up when I'm in the new home..... just hope they've got it right eh?