Beginning in the 1840's, large stretches of California's redwoods were logged for uses as varied as buildings, piers, furniture, caskets, roadways, cesspools and pipes. More than 96 percent of the original forests were harvested, leaving only ninety thousand old growth trees. The largest redwood trees are now protected by either the state or federal government.
Earthquakes are a continuing hazard. The Cascadia subduction zone runs down the western coast of the United States beneath the biggest concentration of old-growth redwoods in the world. In the 19th century, Humboldt County's Bay indigenous tribe recounted trees falling into fissures during an earthquake. As in the past, tsunamis could also level swathes of forest. Individual trees can face challenges. Sometimes trees tip over when subsurface water saturates the area below the roots or a tree's taproot may die. When one tree topples over, others can be brought down at the same time. Wounds and fire scars provide an opening to organisms injurious to the tree. Millions of years ago, trees suffered from a lack of carbon dioxide. While we have an abundance now, the accompanying side effects of drought and fires, higher temperatures and increased insect infestations pose their own risks. Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of Our Future was written by Daniel Lewis and published by Avid Reader Press in 2024.
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BBC's series Earth: One Planet, Many Lives hosted by Chris Peckham relates the amazing history of our planet. One episode recounts how the entire planet froze, including the equator, after a period of warm temperatures and another episode reveals how the planet became barren rock after having been covered with trees and other vegetation. The first episode explains how scientists think almost all marine life and seventy per cent of land vertebrates died 252 million years ago.
Enormous volcanic eruptions spanning two million years precipitated this mass extinction event, creating a 'line of death' in rock formations around the world. Following this fiery spectacle, intermittent intensive rains for almost two million years enabled life to recover and provided the conditions for the arrival of the dinosaurs. The total number of living creatures today accounts for less than one per cent of all those that have ever existed on Earth. The exotic woodblock prints from Japan had a striking effect on European art in the latter half of the 19th century. The discovery of a Japanese picture book in a crate of porcelain tea service shipped to France in 1836 marked the beginning of the immense popularity of this art form in Europe. Afterwards, inexpensive Japanese prints were collected and discussed by Impressionist painters and literary figures. Even Debussy's music was influenced by Hokusai's print "The Great Wave."
The bright colors, the unusual compositions and perspectives, the depictions of everyday life and the use of the familiar vanishing point perspective that the Japanese had adopted from European paintings appealed to Europeans disillusioned with academic art. Besides using the vanishing point perspective, Hokusai employed Prussian blue pigment from Europe in his famous "The Great Wave" print, originally known as "Under the Wave off Kanagawa." Today, it is one of the most recognizable works of art in the world. The Japonisme craze has influenced European and American art into our time. Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence by Sarah E. Thompson was published by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2023. "Hokusai's The Great Wave" is a chapter in Neil MacGregor's A History of the world in 100 Objects which was published by Penguin Books in 2010 and 2011 by Viking Penguin in the United States. |
AuthorI am a Northwest artist making collages from mulberry papers stamped by hand from original images that I have carved. Archives
April 2024
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