Dear Networks Australia
Thank you so much for the opportunity to facilitate a poetry workshop in conjunction with Tree Whispers at BAC.
Branching Out attracted a small but enthusiastic group of five writers including Cheryl and Roberta who belong to a writing group (coordinated by Kathy Kituai) and write regularly, Suzanne who works in communications and wants to explore creative writing more, and Robyn and Carol who didn't see themselves as writers, but were very attracted to the idea of spending a day talking and writing about trees. Cheryl of course is Cheryl Jobsz, also a visual artist and a member of Network Australia with work in Tree Whispers.
Three of the writers had either not been to BAC previously or it had been a very long time since they visited and in one case just a one-off anyway.
Everyone brought tree related material which sparked a lot of happy discussion, especially Robyn's photos of trees at the Darling River and Carol's photos of trees from her former property at Burra. Robyn had planted native trees to attract birds and Carol would roam her 53 acres photographing trees which had significance for her. Suzanne walks and hikes in this her adopted country and finds trees 'anchoring.' We were all tree lovers writing together.
The poets shared photos, books, images and responded to these along with the information, images and native tree cuttings which I had supplied. They wrote a wonderful range of poems exploring ancient trees, the texture, strength and beauty of trees, trees as habitat and trees as special memories.
In the afternoon they spent time with Tree Whispers examining the techniques and enjoying each work. This inspired very interesting writing including: Carol fell in love with shadows and wrote about connections and lifelines; Suzanne was fascinated by the miniaturization of trees through bonsai and likened these to women with bound feet; Robyn was particularly taken with Cheryl's Where are the Birds? noting that birds don't have time to get depressed; both Cheryl and Roberta were inspired by Deborah Faeyrglenn's Underground Forest: sharing water, sharing danger among others, writing about stillness, dancing magic, slow growth, gnarled moments and the significance of trees in life.
Cheryl said of the exhibition and poetry workshop: Focusing on tree artwork and tree poetry had me noticing trees more than I used to. It helped me re-enter my childhood through the trees I knew.
Thank you all again for your inspiring artwork and this opportunity.
Lizz Murphy
