© Jack Kruf (2020) Frosty Fern [fine art print]. Breda: Private collection.
In winter the forest comes to a standstill and prepares for the year to come. This frosty fern is a witness of the quietness of ecosystem.
Forest road
© Jack Kruf (2019) Forest Road [fine art print]. Breda: Private collection.
This forest road in winter creates the perspective of infinity. Beams of sunlight, shades and shadows merge into one. Is this the road to eternity?
Forest floor palette
In early December, this is what this palette of the frosty forest floor is telling us. Quite a set of late autumn colours of lost leafs. They look up to where to came from, the high canopies.
We should be very thankful to them for their incredible service this season, this for their production of O2 (oxygen) and binding CO2 (carbondioxide), for their delivery of sugars for trees, fungi and animals, for filtering the dusty air.
Leafs are key for life. They actually are the master servants in the Empire of the Sun. Now they rest in peace on the forest floor, waiting to find their way in the circle of life. Winter is coming.
Picture: © Jack Kruf
December Forest
Jack Kruf © (2022) December Forest [digital caption]. Breda: private collection.
The forest at this time of the year seems to come to a standstill, leading to fascinating colour palettes. The whole forest ecosystem is in fact in full preparation for the year to come. Here the beautiful browns and yellows of the eagle fern (Pteridium aquilinum L.) at an open place in the forest.
“And into the forest I go…”
Ivan Shishkin (1898) Mast tree grove [oil on canvas]. St. Petersburg, Russia: The State Russian Museum.
“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.”
-John Muir
John Muir (1838 – 1914) is counted among the greatest naturalists. He – born in Dunbar, East-Lothian, Scotland – was an early advocate of the preservation of wilderness.
Jack Kruf 