lukeivyprice

Mar 16

Clear-cut logging… Not as bad as you think

Many people think of clear-cut logging (removing all trees in an area as apposed to thinning) as an evil, habitat-destroying practice that should be stopped. No doubt these are the same people who would have thrown red paint on our ancestors for using their food’s fur to clothe themselves. I spent part of the day walking around the swamp, searching for plants to sketch. In the deep swamp with old-growth cypress trees dominating the landscape, I found only two varieties of grasses and saw little animal activity. As I stepped into a clearing that was clear-cut only two years ago, I was greeted by an abundance of grasses (some growing eight feet high) and young trees of several types. I displaced birds with almost every step across this cutdown. Animals like deer, rabbits, turkey, mice, and quail raise their young in areas like these in order to have more cover from predators.

[video]

Mar 06

I see art as an essentially human act. To take part in the art habit, as I understand it, requires all of the most vital and unique evolutionary tools that humans posses. Those tools include a large brain with a capacity for abstract thought, upright posture that elevates and prioritizes the eyes, and adept hands capable of skillful manipulation of resources. These tools are essential to the art process for both viewer and maker. They must have surfaced prior to any art making but I feel that art making and viewing has honed these tools.