Saturday, December 10, 2011

Bev Hand - Maroochy Botanic Gardens

Last week Treeline artists were invited to take a walk in Maroochy Bushland Botanic Gardens with indigneous leader and very knowledgeable person Beverly Hand. What a treat it was! Beverly is an expert and entertaining story teller with a wealth of interesting knowledge about plants and the culture, customs and folklore of her indigenous background.She also seemed to know more about the history of western civilisation than we did, as well as knowing the Latin names of all the plants and being able to give us useful information that can inform our Treeline projects. I came away wishing and hoping that I could somehow bring Beverly into contact with students from Caloundra City School who will be the focus of my Treeline project in 2012 - if just to enthuse them about the bushland plants we so often overlook, as well as a little understanding of the first inhabitants of this land. I also came away with (even more) images from the gardens that will be put to use making textures for virtual world installations.