A time, of cooler days, makes for perfect daytime art making amongst the tall trees with the dappled sunshine beaming through.
Finding the trees that got too hot in the recent back burn... The natural shedding of the outer layers connect with my white paper. I explore the textures and how the shedding is released from flaking or dusting as the paper twists and turns and moves up and down.
Today was taking impressions from the outer bark to take note of the texture that's been left after such a strong heat has changed the surface of the tree.
Making observations of the different types of charcoal and ash that has been burnt to a crisp, is something that I am enjoying looking for.
A soft furry blackness that immediately released from the trees powered charcoal covered my hand. This was caused by the extreme heat on the outside of the bark.
Other trees had the heat at the base where the fire was low on the ground. I spotted at the base of the tree black shards that we're brittle but hard and held their shape. Crumbling in my fingers with the gentlest touch.
Spending time connecting with space that's around you can be a cherished moment of understanding more about what's happened in a place in the past.
Turns out I wasn't alone in the bush that day.
And then after drawing the artwork above I saw a piece of charcoal that was on the ground that had been caught as the flames of the fire ran through. There was still a strength to this stick that had turned into charcoal, there were points and sharp edges but it was brittle and fragile in my hand. I was using this to capture marks on paper. Drawing with an open mind to who is there with me. This is the first layer of this portrait. I will be bringing a water pen or brush back onto the paper and some crushed harvest bushfire charcoal that will be water soluble.
Some natural pigment will be used for background on the portrait artwork above.