CRESWICK / VIC
Creswick Forestry is rich in colonial history. Dating back to the mid 1800’s. North west of Melbourne, between Ballarat and Daylesford this unique township
harbours an early settler lifestyle, it has a rich history in pioneers, gold panning and forestry.
John La Gerche was a self taught Forester who’s hand written manuscripts would
later become a model for forest management. He planted over 100,000 trees of various species both native and non native. Creswick Forest is a rich tapestry of nature walks, working pine plantation and learning centre.
Here I cut my tooth within this profession and learnt valuable skills in identification, practice and process, revisiting here is like coming home every time.
The process is cathartic, spending quality time with the tree allows me to really see and appreciate its life, becoming intimate with their growth rings helps tell their story. It is long, tedious and dirty work but applying the first coat of printing ink and feeling the textures underneeath the roller brings a feeling of reward, happiness and satisfaction.
Walking through the forest with so many different species helped me navigate and understand the relationship between the species and my process. This comprehension helps create a inner compass for me to streamline my search and identify what I need and which tree will allow my process to capture their life.
The four elements work together and against each other to create the contours for printing.
One of the first trees I ever printed was near this site. It was sad and humbling to see that the remains of the stump had disintegrated back into the earth only a few short years since I had printed it.
To come back and find a new tree showed me that there is endless potential to find beauty all over this planet, and once it has been explored, it is not to say that there will not be more in the future.
Every work is unique, every piece has been connected to this tree, my fingers have run around every growth ring of its life.
The days were short and cold, we spent a couple of days here while I worked on the tree, sipping cups of tea and exploring the forest.
Creswick will always hold a special place in my heart, this print will forever remind me that growth is natural and necessary.
