Monday, September 13, 2010

Trees of Love


The beautiful image above is an original watercolor created by chrissutherland called "Tree of Love". Please check out Chris's delightful Etsy shop of watercolor artwork!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/chrissutherland

We love trees, but don't forget that they love us back! One thing about creating my art that puts my mind at ease is knowing that I am recycling paper (magazines, yogi tea tags, etc.); whatever doesn't end up in my art ends up in a paper recycling bin instead of a gargantuan landfill somewhere harming our beautiful earth. To show your love for trees, please practice recycling paper, planting trees, and/or supporting crafters who use recycled paper in their art (like with my hand-painted upcycled decoupage canisters)! To remind us of all of the precious love that trees give, lets look into a few of their amazing gifts.

Trees lower Stress:
Research has shown that exposure to trees can decrease a person's blood pressure and muscle tension.

Trees reduce greenhouse gases:
One forested acre removes six tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and replaces it with four tons of oxygen, providing enough air for 18 people to breathe for a year.

Trees increase property value:
Healthy and mature ones can add about 10 percent to your home's value.

Trees cut energy costs:
Planting them around your house shades windows and walls; this can reduce air-conditioning costs by up to 56 percent.

4 comments:

Andrea said...

I've never seen such a beautifully detailed watercolor painting before. Wow!

Jessica Woody said...

I know, it's gorgeouus! I would love to learn how to use watercolor to create beautiful masterpieces! I am particularly fascinated with Japanese and Chinese watercolor techniques...ha ha, maybe I need to check those books back out from the library for the learning tips and the inspiration!

Kristin Aquariann said...

Lovely watercolor! Interesting tree stats, too.

Emme Toaye said...

Beautiful watercolor and love the hues and colorful technique. This is the time of year for starting a willow tree from a cut switch from a tree. Just put a few cut switches in the recycled 2 liter soda bottles and in a few weeks the leaves will fall off and roots will begin to trail off the bottom of the switch under the water line. In the spring take three of the switches and braid them and plant them for an amazing twined willow tree you'll love for years.