Early October I managed to do a long awaited research trip to Tasmania, visiting different types of rainforests, learning about their bio diversity and immersing myself amongst the giant trees. Why? For the last two years I have been writing and developing another story of my own (yes, it takes me this long). In a nutshell it is about a little boy who rescues a sapling but then in turn the tree ends up rescuing him. It touches on bio diversity, climate control, sustainability and so much more. It's heavily reliant on visual literacy and getting my facts right, even though it is a fictional picture book, is always so important to me.
So I took upon the services of a forest ecologist for two solid days - Yoav from Giant Trees Expeditions. What he does not know about trees is not worth knowing - it was both fascinating and mind blowing. Brain overload to say the least!
I learnt about trees as witnesses, as ambassadors, as places, as people and landmarks. If you are planning a trip to Tassie, please look him up - based in Hobart, it will be a highlight... and say hi from me :)
More to come about this story soon hopefully, but I'll be working on these drawings over the next two months, and definately a tree painting.
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