Today is day two of a four day heatwave in Victoria. With the heat, home and hollows become significant. Humans and wildlife alike need places to shelter. Tonight, breaking the high temperature, is a thunderstorm with damaging winds. Lightning can potentially start fires. So, we’re are all hunkered down, waiting for it to pass.

My thoughts also go to the Grampians National Park, where fires have been burning for weeks. Further afield in Australia, and around the world, news is of floods, fires, war and destruction.

The Blessing of Rain

The thunderstorm has brought with it heavy rain. I’m so thankful. Here, in my small town, we’ve been through a low rainfall winter and spring. Two months into summer, and the environment is tinder dry. Food for wildlife is getting harder and harder to find.

Storms in bushland are a two edged sword. In almost every big storm, some of our trees fall. If not whole trees, then certainly big branches. The point of the branch break can become hollowed out, eventually forming hollows for wildlife. And so the cycle continues.

‘Home Hollow’ Painting

These thoughts brought me to my painting ‘Home Hollow’ acrylics on canvas, completed last year. It has a strong focus on the form of the hollow. Some people see a creature curled inside. The red behind the trunk hints at heat.

This post is not as focussed on technique, but more about the strong emotions that trigger inspiration. Living among trees is both peaceful, and full of hazards. It brings home cycles of life and death, and the fragility of existence.

This post is part of the 100 Days of Art project. Click here to see other posts in the series.

If you are interested in posts about nature, you may also like to check out my nature blog Fifteen Acres.