Berndnaut Smilde, is a visionary visual artist, capturing the impossible by creating real clouds indoors and outside. Using a precise balance of temperature, humidity, and lighting, his work is a fleeting moment of beauty that exists only long enough to photograph.

I first saw Berndnaut’s work in Melbourne at a Climarte exhibition at Melbourne University. I found Berndnaut’s images to be captivating and beautiful. Ten years later, I found Berndnaut again via Instagram and contacted him to see if he was interested in an eco-deal.

TREES for ART

Berndnaut was more than happy for the exchange – and so in return for 2 of his images, I organised the planting of 600 native trees at Esperance, WA on his behalf.

Over the course of the winter, at Esperance Kea Kurl Boodja Country, home of the Wudjari People, 600 native trees were planted with a group of community members. The group led a tree planting event for the district with the aim to restore a significant size of land back to its original vegetation.

Over time, the trees planted will form an integral feature of the landscape, providing a microclimate for shrubs, grasses and sedges to grow. One tree species that is important to the area is Eucalyptus occidentalis, or Yate. Numerous Yate trees were planted as part of this project. The Yate is a deep-rooted tall tree that assists in salinisation remediation, i.e. they assist with keeping salt in the deeper layers of the soil. Over time, the new Yate trees will provide habitat for the local fauna including tiger snakes, pink and grey galahs, and kangaroos), through long term development of hollows, roosting sites and flowers. Yate Swamp are also listed as a Priority Ecological Community under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. Rehabilitating the Yate ecosystem assists in conserving an ecological community identified as under threat.

We learnt that when we work at caring for Country it  means some part of Country comes with you. Like the dirt under our fingernails and the mud in our shoes, the knots in our hair from the wind, the sun on our faces. This helps us feel connected through the physical evidence of our hands in the soil.

Thank you to everyone for your support for this unique and important project.

Amy Steele | Member | Activate Tree Planting

You can find Berndnaut on Instagram.

If you would like to know about sponsoring community tree planting projects and how we can assist you in becoming a more sustainable business, please contact Colleen at <[email protected]>. Or if you would simply like to purchase native Australian trees for us to plant on your behalf, you can find the link here. Trees cost $9.65.

Writer: Colleen B. Filippa

With a background in Environmental Science, Colleen is the Founding Director of Fifteen Trees. In 2009, after 20 years in primary, secondary and tertiary education institutions, Colleen left the classroom to start the company. Fifteen Trees is a social enterprise assisting individuals and companies to reduce their carbon footprint by supporting community groups such as Landcare, schools and environmental networks.