Women in Trees

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Contemporary performance artist Joan Jonas recently interpreted the Grimm fairy tale The Juniper Tree using red and white images of contorted faces to represent the story’s central character’s wish for a child as white as snow and as red as blood. A kimono hung from a wooden frame depicts the stepmother and tree. In the story the woman gorges on junipers and has a baby before dying. She is buried under the juniper tree and witnesses the violent murder of her child by his stepmother. The juniper tree is the embodiment of the dead mother and represents righteous redemption. In Merce Rodoreda’s Death in Spring dying citizens are buried alive in trees, their throats filled with cement. These disturbing connections between trees and people reflect what Sara Maitland describes as a ‘profound sense that violence, beauty, risk and joy are inextricably tangled together; and the roots lie in the forests.’ Trees contain a deep magic. Perhaps our women in trees knew this, felt it on an ancestral level, as they perched amongst the branches. Sharon: In the late 1980s I had a poor perception of what arboriculture was and focused on landscape design in my local authority role. Without the guidance and support of tree officers at Essex County Council, I would have been directionless. As my career progressed, I am indebted to prominent individuals in the industry for believing in me. I had low self-esteem due to being a full-time mum for so long and due to my slight dyslexia. I had poverty of expectation of what I could achieve which was blown away when I went into private practice in 2005. I grew up in the south of England during the height of the Dutch elm disease epidemic in the mid-1970s and saw hundreds of majestic trees die. We lived in a house affected by subsidence after the 1976 drought and during that year we lost a sycamore to sooty bark. All these events happened while I was still in primary school but it had a big impact on me and made me acutely aware of the value of trees. I think the biggest challenge for me so far was thinking about getting my first job. Being female, I was worried about that employer’s attitudes might be towards me, especially considering this can be a very physically demanding industry. Thankfully, I didn’t come across that and, in fact, being part of a team made up of different people, with different strengths and weaknesses, meant it hasn’t been a problem, we work together to get the job done.

Lisa: What are some of the challenges you faced in establishing yourself within the tree care industry? The main aim of the event is to provide an opportunity for the growing women in arboriculture community to share experiences, ideas, projects and to spark further initiatives which hope to encourage greater diversity within the sector. As there is no set path into the industry, the route you take is completely up to you. Qualifications and training ranges from apprenticeships, short courses, seminars, workshops, further education courses, and undergraduate to masters degrees, there’s an option for everyone. One thing is for certain, you will never stop learning!

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Sharon: They know who they are. More generally, anyone who openly shares information and encourages others to get involved and feel empowered. I am so grateful for the friendship of other wonderful female arbs.

The images will go on display at the forthcoming Women in Forestry, The Lumberjills Story exhibition at Grizedale Forest this May. The People’s Picture will illustrate the connection today’s women have with forests and woodlands by inviting them to submit photos showing themselves at work. Women who don’t work in forestry are also being asked to submit photos of themselves in a favourite forest spot or woodland space.Ans: The poet describes the moon as a full moon in the beginning of the third stanza but at the end of the stanza, she describes it to be broken into pieces. The change in the moon is because of the trees. The trees that earlier were in the poet’s house have now reached the forest. Their long branches have cast a shadow on the full moon and now it appears to be broken into pieces like a mirror. I’m not saying we need to recruit more women regardless of abilities or suitability to particular roles. Three women, all wearing long dresses or skirts, stand in a spindly tree (birch?). The branches don’t look strong enough to hold them. The light and the scattered leaves create the impression that they are part of the canopy. Two look like they are leaning into the branches, supported and easy; the other clings to a bigger branch with a half smile.