Life grows, like a tree it develops and matures, separated and joined by extraordinary and amazing moments. These moments stem from and branch off from us. Stages throughout our lives, experiences during our childhood, adulthood, retirement and old age, bud and shape us into the people we become, leaving mementos along the way, little knots and whorls. Our lives and attitudes support and shape others, providing nutrients and strength through the simplest acts. Life is unpredictable, we do not know where it will guide us, stretching to the sun or bending towards the ground, or who we will meet and lose along the way, leaves here, limbs there.
Spring infancy blooms
Summer youth ripens
Autumn maturity develops
Winter wisdom evolves
Spring is the season of prosperity and rapid growth. The spring air is filled with warmth and the scent of blooming wildflowers. Crimson bottlebrush and buttercup yellow wattles adorn trees, covered in different arrays of parrots, butterflies and ladybirds. With this teeming life comes the germination of hope and ambition. Small seedlings, tiny and vulnerable beings, grow taller each day. As their trunks thicken they become more robust and resilient. The growing foliage, small delicate buds and large emerald coloured leaves scrape the bright sapphire sky. White clouds float across keeping watch as the glorious days continue for weeks, mornings of dewy grass, and evenings of calm winds. It is only towards the end of spring that leaves curl and the dirt begins to dry – summer can be seen on the horizon.
Spring infancy blooms
Summer youth ripens
Autumn maturity develops
Winter wisdom evolves
The sweltering heat begins in December, the horizon become hazy, a mirage reflecting the sky back on itself. The dirt is hard and crisp, all remnants of moisture evaporated long ago. Dry dust blows across the landscape clouding visibility. The bright beautiful flowers fell long ago, leaving only matured leaves hanging wilted from the panting tree, heavily swaying in the breeze. Bright light shines deep to the core of the tree, hardening the beige bark, creating deep furrows. Birds pick at the crust, forming deep pockets, hiding from the heat, guarding nests for their young. As the roots become intertwined, support and strength develops, a reliance on others. The sweltering months begin to cool, autumn can be seen on the horizon, with it a sense of maturity.
Spring infancy blooms
Summer youth ripens
Autumn maturity develops
Winter wisdom evolves
Autumn blows in with the first rain, cooling the landscape and easing tremendous tension within. As a pair of kookaburras nest in the canopy, creating intricate constructions of twigs and mud, the once dark green leaves become dappled shades of amber, yellow and brown. The leaves begin to shrivel and turn crisp, morphing into small crumpled versions of their former selves. As they fall they paint the earth a beautiful orange and creating a temporary home for the small bugs and critters scurrying on the ground, until the gentle breeze whisks the leaves away. Tall branches are barren, spindly at the ends and pointing in different directions. Night begins to fall earlier, days shorten.
Spring infancy blooms
Summer youth ripens
Autumn maturity develops
Winter wisdom evolves
All remnants of leaves have ebbed by the winter months, leaving an exposed skeleton, a former youthful tree now rigid and fragile. Dimples on the surface have become exacerbated, deeper and bleaker, showing the frailty winter brings. As gentle white snow falls upon the spindly limbs, cracks begin to form in their structure, splintering branches and twigs. The inevitability of growing old takes grip on the tree, turning it into a silhouette, a ghost swaying in the shadows. Winter brings bitter relentless wind, weaving its way through the naked branches. Finally the tree becomes too weak and snaps at the base, tumbling down with great power. Driving hail and rain batters the exposed wood, turning it a weathered grey. The rough break exposes the growth rings to the elements revealing information and stories of life.
Spring infancy blooms
Summer youth ripens
Autumn maturity develops
Winter wisdom evolves
Years on, through many seasons, the shattered trunk has become a haven for small translucent termites, busy ants and creeping slaters, slowly making their way through the dense wood and forming intricate nests, new life teeming in what took years to create. Toadstools and decomposers begin the endless task of breaking down the fibre into rich nutrients to be returned to the soil. Butterflies rest on the dimples in the bark and bright coloured birds perch on branches which stick up haphazardly. At the base of the fallen tree, in the crisp air of a spring morning, a small green sapling begins to unfurl and rise from the rich earth, fuelled by the energy of the fallen tree.
