Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven…

Throughout world history, a driving force for the Arts (visual, performing, writing, music) has often arisen from personal connection with the natural world- through experience, memory or imagination. 

Intimacy with a place takes time to grow, but the patience and effort of finding space to do can be worthwhile, perhaps helping us to understand better the protective needs of our natural places.

Artist Mary Lynne Stadler has always been passionate about the natural world but her intense experience of bonding with an olive tree has been the source of her most recent work, firing an excitement within her that she wished to share with others.

Her observation that “as soon as we make something personal we become emotionally connected to it. It becomes more significant, more important, and we are more alert then to what happens to it,” has inspired her to reach out an invitation for people to send her their personal tree stories as creative responses. 

“I am finding that, as people engage in the project with their own personal ‘stories,’  so their general awareness of what is happening to trees all around the world has become heightened.”

Read more about Mary- Lynne’s project here.