Art in its many forms be it paintings, poetry, songs or stories, has the power to evoke strong feelings and emotions; providing a link to memories which are often deeper and more sensual than the art itself, a gateway to deeper meaning.

Quote from Sir David Attenborough;

“No one will protect what they don’t care about, and no one will care about what they never experienced.”

When we have the chance to be immersed in nature, we have the opportunity to capture our experiences, our sense of joy and wonder and transform them into new pictures, poems, stories - stories we can share with others, helping to strengthen their connection with nature, encouraging them to experience it for themselves.

This weekend I had the pleasure of joining local artist Linda Benton and some of the poets from The Poets Trail - Green Theme to share our stories and talk about how our experiences of the natural environment in our local village had inspired us and helped us to feel more connected.

Our friends from the local sustainability group, HUGS, were on hand to share information about local biodiversity projects and stimulate our senses and imaginations with their “What’s in the box?” exhibit featuring a wide range of natural objects. The descriptions we came up with were then transformed into poems by some of the resident poets - a real case of art in action!

Amidst the chatter and copious quantities of tea and cake we took turns to discuss the inspiration behind our work and read short passages. Below is an excerpt of the story I shared with the group about my novel - Generation 8.

In 2020, during lockdown, I had the chance to explore our local area and I challenged myself to learn about the trees I saw. One day I came across an amazing tree; at the time I didn’t know her name.

Later I found out that she was a Black Poplar, a relatively rare tree. She was glorious with long straggly branches some of which were interwoven with ivy, others old and dying. Her enormous trunk with characteristic deeply grooved and riven bark, dotted here and there with little holes, homes to many tiny creatures. In her corner of the field, she seemed to be standing watch, taking note of all that passed.

I felt connected to her in a way that is hard to explain. It was as if she had something to share, if only I knew how to ask. I wondered what she might have witnessed in her lifetime of maybe 200 years. What story would she tell? I imagined it would be a story of our Parish, the wildlife, the people, our community, the land. How things had slowly altered over the passage of 7 human generations, steadily becoming less vibrant.

Generation 8 is my attempt to tell this story - an exploration of lost connections over the passage of 7 generations; an attempt to regain a sense of place and belonging; an imagined future more attuned to nature; a future where the next generation - Generation 8 - might thrive.

Generation 8 is available in paperback and e-book formats - follow the link below to purchase your copy https://generation-8.org/

Green Book Launch - Generation 8

HUGS AGM 2024