Recovery out of Black Summer has proven to be a long and ongoing task. We must remember to keep looking out for our vets, vet clinic workers. and our wildlife carers and volunteers. They have given their all during and after the 2019-2020 fires. Many in our community continue to care for the creatures of our Nature Coast on Yuin Country – and those that travel across our borders.
WOOEE chatted with Nelligen local, Louise Charlesworth as she described a call to wildlife during the Clyde Mountain fire, and then the pull towards painting a canvas . . . Read on!
detail of Louise Charlesworth’s painting
Thanks so much for taking time to talk to WOOEE about your painting, Louise! There’s so much heart-felt emotion within the umbrella of the mother tree you’ve painted. It’s this beautiful, shelter of hope and protection for the local wildlife you’ve captured.
I heard this was the first time you’d ever painted on canvas. What was it that spurred you to paint?
LC As the time and stress lingered on I began thinking of not only the people of Australia but the birds and animals too.
I decided to direct my nervous energy into a drawing which then became one of my very first paintings.
It was such a terrible time for everyone, and it was sad to realise that there weren’t any birds or animals in sight, for a very long time. This is what inspired me with my original drawing.
As things finally settled down months later, my son and I did food drops for the hope of surviving wildlife, along with others in our neighbourhood which was organised through WIRES. I’m pleased to say that the birds and wildlife have slowly returned to our area.
It really was shocking wasn’t it… We know now that three billion animals were killed or displaced during Australia’s largest bushfires. And that World Wide Fund for Nature WWF, described it as one of the ‘worst wildlife disasters in modern history.‘ What a great job you, your young son and you and WIRES did. And all in the midst of such a horrendous time.
Your painting contains physical residues, remnants of the fire on your own property. They are a bit like indelible markers, preserving that time – even now, two years on. That’s incredibly moving.
LC The trees in the painting bereft of leaves are drawn with the charcoal I collected from the front yard of our property and resemble the bare trees that were left in the whole community surrounds, long after the fires were gone. By some kind of miracle our home was spared at the last minute and we will be forever grateful.
It was a summer no one will ever forget and my heart goes out to everyone who has been affected in one way or another, I wish everyone the best in their recovery!
Thanks so much Louise for sharing your art and your story with us. WOOEE wishes you and your son and all the WIRES crews the very best too!
Read and watch the incredible stories from the field that emerged from the Australian 2019-20 bushfires here
STORIES FROM THE BUSHFIRE FRONT LINES
source: WWF
Let’s keep working for a safer climate for our animals and their habitats on the Nature Coast!
WOOEE dips it hat to all the ‘accidental carers’ and WIRES teams throughout Eurobodalla and the South East. They work at the pointy end of climate change – with care, compassion and commitment. Thank you!
For contact details for volunteering with WIRES go to
https://www.wires.org.au/branch/far-south-east
WOOEE 2022
