Treewhispers

Spending an afternoon at the Evanston Art Center talking with Pamela Paulsrud, I was encouraged to send a tree story to Treewhispers. I have planted trees, saved trees that were blown over by the wind and rescued trees from the construction guy’s saw, but I am sending a picture of the Painted Trees in the Forest of Oma, as a Unique Tree Moment!

The trees were painted by Basque artist Agustin Ibarrola, and the Forest of Oma is in the Basque Country of Northern Spain, some place between Bilbao and San Sebastian. Google maps had it pinpointed exactly, and all we had to do was drive to a little village and then it would be 4 kilometers or more up the mountain. Google maps did not mention that it was a footpath, closed to car traffic. The climb was worth it—a stunning mountain top vista, and deep in the pine forest, many trees had been painted by a magical hand—rainbow colors, figures, symbols, it was a most unusual art work in a beautiful setting.

Augstin Ibarrola’s works can be found in Google Images. He has traveled around Spain painting trees, rocks, just about anything in a remote and special location, and his dedicated followers delight in traveling to each place, photographing the work and posting it as proof of their visit.

Photo and text contributed by Sara Drower, Wilmette, IL