Welcome to Life Images by Jill

Welcome to Life Images by Jill.........Stepping into the light and bringing together the images and stories of our world. I am a photographer, writer and multi-media artist.
Focussing mainly on Western Australia and Australia, I am seeking to preserve images and memories of the beautiful world in which we live and the people in it.

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Monday 24 May 2021

The amazing bioluminescent green Ghost Fungi

 Hi everyone. I hope you and yours are safe and well. It is late autumn here and the last few days have been wet and cold, so winter is on its way. 

Have you heard of the ghost fungi? I have photographed it before, but didn't know it's name and its unique characteristics until a couple of weeks ago. 

In fact it wasn't until I won the Dardanup Art Spectacular photography prize with this photo, you can see below, of a fungi that I took last year, that a fellow photographer told me it was a ghost fungi.  My original photo is on the left, and my adjusted, winning, photo is on the right. 


A large fungi, growing in overlapping clusters, they are found in southern Australia, and in our area grow around the base or on the trunks of Australian native peppermint trees (
Agonis flexuosa), the fungi — omphalotus nidiformis — are bioluminescent, meaning they emit light.  from: Abc.net.au

Western Australian Aboriginal people referred to the ghost fungus as Chinga, meaning spirit. From: The Conversation.com

24-7 they glow a soft white light which you can see at night, but during the day you can't see this. It is at night when you use a slow shutter speed on your camera that you can capture the luminescent green light they emit. Truly amazing. These fungi were at my son's small acreage. 

How to capture this? You will have to go out at night, need a tripod or solid base to sit your camera and a remote shutter release cable. As these fungi typically grow close to the ground (though I have seen them in trees too), in order to see the underside I laid my camera on the ground. In fact I laid on the ground too. 

You will need to use manual settings and a slow shutter speed. 
According to my friend, I needed an exposure of 3 and a half minutes. I couldn't manage that with my camera (I've researched later how to do this). But I did manage to capture the green with a less slow shutter speed.

These are the settings I used: Aperture f6.3, ISO 640, Shutter speed 30 seconds. 
I laid my camera on the ground, shone a torch on the fungi, focussed the camera on the fungi, half pressed the remote shutter button, turned the light off, and then fully depressed the remote shutter button. The remote release is so you don't get camera shake from pressing the shutter button. 

The focus on this one is a bit out. It's tricky. I certainly need more practise. 

If you don't turn off the torch quick enough you will get something like this you see below. There is a bit of trial and error involved!


This one below I think was affected by moonlight filtering through the trees, whereas the first green one I shared was on the dark side of the trees, so much better colour. 


Focus is out, a bit blurry, and I didn't quite turn the torch off quick enough. 


Truly fascinating and worth playing some more another time. I am really looking forward to my next opportunity to photograph these at night. Unfortunately the fungi around here are collapsing and so just about finished for the year. So will make a note for next year. 

Why do they glow? Some scientists have hypothesised that the light attracts insects that spread mushrooms spores, but a 2016 study found this not to be the case with ghost mushrooms.

Ghost mushrooms are both parasitic, feeding off living tree tissue, and saprotrophic, meaning they eat dead things, in this case rotting wood.

Highly toxic, so please DON'T eat! 

Western Australian Peppermint trees where I found my ghost fungi

More information at:

Thank you so much for stopping by. Have you heard of ghost fungi before? 

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
   

All Seasons
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Sharon's Sovenirs 
Our World Tuesday
Pictorial Tuesday 
ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity. 
       and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday 
Der-Natur-Thursday 
The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit
 Month end link up @ Live love craft me
Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Monday 17 May 2021

A walk in the Northcliffe Forest - Understory art trail

 Hi everyone, I hope you are all safe and well. We are just back from a few days of "forest bathing" - walking in the forest. 

We managed to organise a few days away in Northcliffe, located deep in our south west karri forests. It was so lovely to get away, slow down, and walk in the forests. Karri trees, one of my favourite native trees. 

The name ‘karri’ is the Aboriginal word for the Eucalyptus Diversicolor. Karri is Western Australia’s tallest tree and one of the tallest hardwood trees in the world. The tree reaches its peak height within a hundred years. The tree can grow up to 80m. You can learn more here: Margaret River Vista.com

We arrived in Northcliffe after lunch, and in the afternoon we went to the Northclliffe Visitor Centre to pick up some information and to visit the Understory art and nature trail which starts at the back of the Visitor Centre. 

Inspired by nature and created by local, state, national and international artists, the easy 1.2km walk meanders through the forest. The project was initiated by local artists and launched in 2006 and continually evolves with new pieces being added. 

Allow at least an hour for the walk which closes at 4pm. A small payable fee goes to the local non-profit Art community. 

While some pieces you will love, and others will have you going mmm..???... they will all leave you something to think about. 

It is recommended you follow the trail in an anti-clockwise direction. Collect a map from the Visitor Centre. 

The entry statement and trailhead was created by Torbay (WA) artist Kevin Draper. 

The first piece on the trail is Wishing Wheels by Denmark (WA) artist Peter Keelan. Created from assorted recyled materials including oxygen and gas cylinders, steel, bamboo, ball bearings, stub axles, street signs and pressed tin. You are invited to turn the wheels and listen. Resulting from community workshops, they reminded me of prayer wheels. 

Hopefully you can play this video below here....

This post would be too long to show you all the pieces individually, but I will show you just a few of my favourites.  You can see more about the arts and artists on their website and Facebook page.

Feature throughout the trail are a series of portraits by Kim Perrier from Bridgetown (WA) entitled Rising from the Ashes. The series commemorates the catastrophic Northcliffe bushfire in the summer of 2015. It acknowledges the trauma, loss, and resilience of the community and acknowledges the assistance of hundreds of people from across Australia who helped fight the fires. 

Over 40 local residents where cast in plaster and then the faces created with charcoal and glue. As you look about along the walk you will see them in the forest. 

Another of my favourites was Bower created with found sticks by Perth (WA) artist Gemma Wood. You can see a video of Gemma talking about her work on Facebook here - Gemma Wood - Understory 

There are a series of five stone benches and sculptures entitled Forest Stones created by Albany (WA) artist Kati Thamo, representing forest creatures. 

A giant suspended halo of steel, karri sticks and wire around a Karri tree was created by Perth artist Lorenna Grant (WA), entitled Whole, You Were Meant to Be Here. 

I did enjoy this Cascading Rain Shelter by Perth (WA) artist Tony Pankiw, but I don't think I would want to be out here in the rain to see it in operation. 


I think my favourite is Sundew by Perth (WA) artist Natalie Williamson. Created with metal pipes, steel roads, laser cut steel, glass nuggets, silicon and glass enamel paint in 2006, it is based on the tiny delicate native sundew flowers and towers through the trees. Beneath the images of the sculpture, I have shared a photo of a sundew which I took locally. 



One art work that disturbed me a little was Treecycled by Denmark artist (WA) Cecile Williams. Books have been nailed to a fallen log and are slowly decaying.
But then today I found this from Cecile on Facebook, which puts a new light for me onto this piece. @ Facebook.com/UnderstoryArtinNature then scroll down to 12 May 2019. 

"A small collection of old hardcover books was left to me and became the inspiration for this work. These books bring a new skin, bark, and a wisdom back to this unique old tree. It has fallen, yet it still stands strong, carrying the weight of time on its back. The written word, the book titles, the colours all weave a new story back into this site. In time, the weather and nature will come to play their part in this continuing cycle, with moss forming a new skin, regrowth, and moisture interacting with the pages, swelling them and urging them to ‘open out’ and slowly decompose their stories back into the earth. This was their origin, and now they’ve come home."

Another interesting piece was Nature II by Perth (WA) artist Graham Hay, returning 20,000 pages of mostly unread Government reports to the forest, where they have been impregnated with native scarlet bracken fungus spores. Interesting use for Government reports! 

During spring the forest would be a mass of wildflowers, but in autumn when we visited only a few of the swamp bottlebrush were flowering. 


However any time of year lends its own beauty to the Southern Forests Understory art and nature trail and your experiencing of "bathing in the forest". 


We stayed at Around-tu-it caravan park nestled in forest on the edge of town. Although a little "rustic" and tired, we enjoyed the quietness of the lovely forest situation and the handy location close to town. We had perfect weather for bush trail walking. 


There are a number of forest walks in the area, including parts of the 1000km Bibbulmun walking track and the Munda Biddi bike track from Perth to Albany.
The 48km loop Great Forest Trees Drive winds through the karri forest.  I'll be back another time with some of the trails we did. 

For more information:



You might also like:

Where the forest meets the sea - Denmark, WA

Deep in the Boranup Karri forest, WA

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have enjoyed this look at Northcliffe's forest art trial. Do you have an art trail you like to visit. Perhaps you would like to tell us about it in your comments. 

 I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
   
All Seasons
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Sharon's Sovenirs 
Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 
ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity. 
       and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday 
Der-Natur-Thursday 
The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit
 Month end link up @ Live love craft me
Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Monday 10 May 2021

Autumn in Western Australia

 Hi everyone, I hope you and yours are well. It is autumn here in Western Australia and we feel the cool air coming in the mornings and evenings. We don't have the autumn leaf fall that those in the northern hemisphere have, as our trees are evergreen, but there are pockets where we can experience the splendour of autumn leaf colour. 

The Balingup Golden Vally Tree Park is one of those.  I will leave you with some pictures, and a few links where I have blogged about Balingup before, as I am taking a little blogging break this week. 




I've blogged about the Balingup Tree Park before here:

autumn-in-western-australia-2017

autumn-season-of-change - 2016

autumn-colour-in-western-australia-2019

Balingup Golden Valley Tree Park is a truly glorious place in autumn to walk and picnic. Please click on the link for more information. 

Take care everyone and stay safe. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
   
All Seasons
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Sharon's Sovenirs 
Our World Tuesday
Pictorial Tuesday 
ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity. 
       and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday 
Der-Natur-Thursday 
The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit
 Month end link up @ Live love craft me
Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Monday 3 May 2021

Dardanup Art Trail 2021

 Hi everyone, I hope you and yours are well. 

This past weekend I have had a weekend of art exhibiting at the Dardanup Art Trail, about 20 minutes from my home. 

I and three other artists, Christine Blowfield, and Sandra & Sylvia Nysten were hosted at beautiful heritage listed St Mary's Anglican church.  What a wonderful venue it was, and we had a fabulous weekend with lots of people visiting us during the art trail which wound around Dardanup and the beautiful Ferguson Valley. 




First services were held in the tiny colonial town of Dardanup in the 1800s. The foundation stone for the church was laid on 9 May 1906 by Sir George Shenton. Built of brick with an iron roof, and designed by FW Steere, it cost approximately 600 Pounds to erect. It was consecrated on Sunday 2 June 1907. The stained glass windows were dedicated on 20 May 1908, given by Mrs Venn in memory of her husband the Hon. Harry Wittle Venn. 


Services are no longer held here, but it has not been deconsecrated and can be used for weddings, batisms and funerals. 
We were very grateful to the church for allowing us to use it for the Art Trail. They would like to encourage community events, especially as they are trying to raise money for more restoration. 


In the photos above you can see me, second from the right with Sylvia, Christine and Sandra. You can also see the inside of the church with our art displays.


I had on display my botanical eco-prints (you can see one below), ecoprinted scarves and tote bags, and photographical prints on cushions, totes and greeting cards as well as prints. I am down in the back section in this photo. There was a lot of interest in my eco-prints, especially as it was a technique new to many people. I enjoyed explaining it to them. I might do a post soon about it. Here is an example. 

My weekend started on a high when I was awarded the Photography Prize at the Art Spectacular exhibition opening night on Friday night, for my photo of fungi. It was unexpected, and thrilling to win! 


Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

You might also enjoy:

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
   
All Seasons
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Sharon's Sovenirs 
Our World Tuesday


Pictorial Tuesday 
ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity. 
       and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday 
Der-Natur-Thursday 
The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.