The State of the World’s Plants and Fungi report by Royal Botanic Gardens Kew is actually breathtaking. You experience the richness of Mother Earth and feel how nature has evolved in all its diversity. However…
In coordination with 97 other institutions in 42 countries, this renowned institute comes to the disconcerting conclusion of how fast and dramatically the decline of biodiversity is going. Data have been compiled. With this report comes information.
The report offers many tools to improve and shore up. Worth reading, not only for enthusiasts and professionals in the field, but actually for anyone who loves life. After all, there is that calculation of the risk of extinction: 40 per cent of plant species are threatened with it. We don’t want that. Right? Unthinkable actually. A must read for any public leader.
Picture from rapport Kew Gardens (p. 22): “Maize is one of the most widely grown crops but much diversity remains available to breeders.”
Leaf ’68’
Can this leaf of a Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra ‘Italica’ L.) tell the story of a stage, a feeling, an age? Can it be a metaphor for actual fitness, vitality, resilience while representing the signs of life?
I found this leaf near the sacred burial place of my grandparents, where the high slender trees touch the heaven. I spend some time with it. My pencils found their way.
’68’ is a number to be respected and to be remembered. It’s delta shaped form indicates that keep learning is an important implicit message. Its fine geometric architecture also reflects the basic forms of the trees carrying the branches and leafs. In fact it showcases how nature masters its morphogenetic and physiologic plan for growth and development. A wise leaf it is.
Bibliography
Kruf, J.P. (2022) Leaf ’68’ [fine art print]. Breda: Private collection.
Focus
What a beauty it is, the Morus bassinus L.: the Northern gannet or Jan-van-Gent (NL) or Fou de Bassan (F) or Basstölpel (D) or Alcatraz atlántico (E). I like this diversity of names, showing how differently the bird is perceived in trait, behaviour, habitat or niche.
The scala of names given to one species – this is in fact throughout the complete domains of fauna, flora and fungi – underlines the cultural differences between folk and country. And that is good. It broadens the understanding of the essence of living beings. It is good to have Carl Linnaeus for the common understanding.
This bird dives with a speed up to 190 km/hr into the sea, to catch what it needs to live and prosper. What a focus. And the colours. Oh, those colours. Almost art. I found the drawing from my notebook on our way (with my girls) to Scotland in 2005. On the ferry we witnessed a rain of arrows falling from the sky. Quite a spectacular view.
Trees
This elegant collection of Hermann Hesse’s essays, poems, and passages on trees, accompanied by thirty-two of his hand-painted watercolor illustrations, reveals his sacred understanding of trees as symbols of transcendence and rebirth, of instinctive growth present in all natural life.
It is published by Kales Press, selected by Volker Michels* and translated from the German by Damion Searls**.
Trees mirrors landscapes as Hesse experienced them, both artistically and spiritually, and reminds us that the life of a tree is also a metaphor for our own life of perseverance, happiness, and purpose. In the author’s words:
“They struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: to fulfill themselves according to their own laws . . . Whoever has learned to listen to trees no longer wants to be one. He wants to be nothing except who he is.”
Bibliography
Hesse, H. (2022) Trees: An anthology of writings and paintings. San Diego, California: Kales Press.
*Volker Michels, the world’s foremost authority on Hermann Hesse’s work, manages the Nobel laureate’s literary and artistic estate.
**Damion Searls (personal website) is the translator of more than fifty books, including Hermann Hesse’s Demian, and the recipient of numerous awards.
Picture above is part of Hermann Hesse, Early Spring, 1925.
Recommended
The Day Hermann Hesse Discovered the Meaning of Life in a Tree
Robin
I love this bird. The robin has beautiful colours. Its orange is dazzling. It lives with wife and children (temporary) in our garden. Companions at home. This summer, the family was part of our household. So far from my perspective and my charcoal pencils.
The present news about dictators, autocrats (on all levels) and democratic power houses brings me to another dimension of this bird. It is of course a personal association, in moments becoming a metaphor.
From ecological point of view the robin is relevant in the food chain. Itself it is a fierceless predator of insects and worms. Hm. Defends its territory with all its focus and effort. It does all what is necessary for that.
I recognise this behaviour in the world of power and influence (as Machiavelli described the world of ‘politics’), reading through today’s headlines – in all sizes, forms and capacities.
What helps in my idea, is the fact that the robin (and with all associations attached) is eaten by owls (wisest of all), buzzards (honest birds), hawks (masters of the wood) and falcons (actors of balance). The circle of life is hard but gives hope. I still love this bird.
Bibliography
Kruf, J.P. (2022) Robin [fine art print]. Breda: private collection.
Kruf Huyssons 