Trees, Skis, and a Book

Sometime toward the end of 2019, I realized that my friend Hannah and I both really love trees. Also mountains, skiing, snow, dogs, and many other things, but the true appreciation and connection with trees was a bit of a revelation. We both happened to be in somewhat transitional times in life and as Hannah shared and created art in an increasingly public forum, I was inspired to do the same, to create and share, and I knew it should probably start with trees.

In early March 2020, just a few days before Covid lock-downs started, Hannah and I got out for a beautiful morning of spring ski touring. As I had watched Hannah put her art in the world over the previous few months, and became more and more inspired by the content and the nature of her work, I knew that I both wanted to put my own work out in the world and especially to propose a collaboration. I had developed a nascent idea for an illustrated set of children’s books focused on the natural world, starting with – naturally – trees: I would write the words, Hannah would illustrate. I had words floating in my head, looking for an outlet. Hannah’s aesthetic and shared love of trees, mountains, nature, and concern environmental justice, and environmental racism seemed like the perfect fit that would complement my initial vision.

Hannah agreed with enthusiasm and our first collaborative project was born! I wrote, she drew, and the result was exciting enough for us to continue the project and begin putting it out in the world. This was a HUGE step for me and my feelings about it so intense that I told almost no one for over a year! As our lives took some pretty big changes in the summer, going from time off to full-time jobs, we continued pursuing our individual creative projects and our collaborative book series, not quite knowing where we were headed but always continuing to move ahead.

Hannah and I will share the first edition in our children’s book series, I am the Trees, as a downloadable PDF through the SHIM Eco Artsy page later this summer. We also plan to create physical copies and will donate a portion of our earnings to organizations that provide under-served communities opportunities to experience non-built environments (details of the physical book release and who we will partner with are in the works). I am beyond excited that we have embarked on this journey. I am beyond thankful for this process, for the SHIM Art Network and what it stands for, for Hannah seeing this side of me and inviting and encouraging me.

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This new step feels like both a beginning and a culmination, which is a fun and exciting place to be. These creative outlets provide, for me, just the right combination of my past as a research scientist and working ecologist with my love of the outdoors, using technology to create interesting visuals, and sharing an appreciation for nature and stewardship through positive and thought provoking approaches.

I’m a huge believer in teaching through positivity. If my work helps someone shift an old perspective by feeling curious about the subject, connected to a tree, or interested in preserving areas to get outside to ski, bike, run, hike, boat, picnic, or read, it feels like the beginning of a shift in our collective point of view that might lead us to a better future. It will be one of my greatest joys in life if I ever know that this has happened on even the smallest scale.

Don’t mistake me, there is a place for more alarmist narrative and visuals. I was extremely moved by the National Geographic issue on plastic waste several years ago. Even as a teacher, working ecologist, and someone both educated and interested in environmental issues, I did not – maybe even could not – appreciate the scale of that disaster until I saw the images. Thinking about it 4+ years later as I write this, it still gives me chills and reinforces my personal steps to reduce plastic in my life. We need to have context, we need that imagery. We need to see and hear about it, but it is not my personal place of drive or inspiration.

My place is to share beauty and wonder, spark curiosity and compassion with the hope that this might inspire others to form their own connection to the world. I believe that we need the balance of knowing the world where it is still habitable, beautiful, and fulfilling: where it heals. As much as we need to see the scary and ugly, we need to have a connection to those places that are wild, uninhabited, beautiful, and healthy in order to understand what all of that devastation caused by many of our modern (and in many cases ancient) technologies and development practices actually means. We need a knowledge of both the ruined and the ideal in order to find the attainable middle ground.

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I am new new to thinking of myself as something other than a scientist who has diverse interests. But I am getting more articulate in sharing the sides of me and especially the whys. Everything I’ve published here (and a lot of false starts behind the scenes) is wrapped up in these emerging projects. Whether overt or not, my desire to experience a better balance of life and work, to foster compassion for all living things, and to see a more just world where we ALL have access to clean, healthy, natural spaces on a regular basis lies behind the visual and written creative pieces that I have been working toward.

This post is about my own progress and exciting new steps, the people who are helping me find my place, and our upcoming work. But it is also about looking for a better world for us all, and sometimes that means starting with yourself. This process has brought me joy, a sense of rightness, and gives me the capacity to expand my world in a way that has not been accessible to me in years. And that gives me much-needed hope.

Here are some resources to find more information about our creative endeavors:
SHIM Art Network
SHIM Eco (inaugural show on Artsy)
Hannah Hardenbergh IG @withmountainsinmind
Allison Ebbets IG @out.there.with.the.trees