You may have seen small pictures painted on tree trunks in parks. Who draws them? And why in these places? Let’s talk and love.
Walking through Moscow parks, we can come across a real miracle: drawings on tree trunks. Where did they come from? Is it bad for trees? About everything in order.
Tatyana Naumova, the ideological inspirer and muse of the ParkArt project, we met in Terletsky Park: it was here that the first drawing on a tree appeared five years ago. “At that time, I worked at Mospriroda, an organization that manages specially protected natural areas of the capital – parks, forest parks, wildlife sanctuaries,” says Tatyana. “I didn’t come up with the idea of drawing on trees, of course, but the idea to turn art into an environmental procedure came to me just then.”
“What good can a tree do from a drawing?” – you ask. We answer. Drawings within the framework of the ParkArt project appear for a reason, but only on sections of trunks that do not have bark. These places are called frost holes. What it is? Under the influence of external factors (for example, due to temperature differences), the bark of the tree cracks, diverges, and the trunk is exposed.
Bark for a tree is a protective layer, like skin for people: it protects against the penetration of excess moisture (because of it, the trunk can become rotten), as well as pests, bacteria and fungal spores.
“Frost crackers can be found in any forest – this is not a sign of forest infection, but an indicator of a decrease in the tree’s immunity,” explains Tatyana. “That means he can and should be helped. Together with dendrologists and biologists from Mospriroda, we developed a plan.
First, the freezer is cleaned of dirt, pests and mold – all that has accumulated over the years. Then the trunk is treated with a sanitizing solution – as a person is treated with a wound with hydrogen peroxide – and coated with an acrylic-based primer. The primer does not penetrate into the wood structure and creates an additional protective layer.” After this treatment, the freezer can be left. And you can create a work of art.
The authorship of the works on the trees belong to ordinary residents of the city – they are drawn with a trembling hand, and a child, and an adult, and a professional, and a semi-professional. The drawings have no expiration dates – no works are specially painted over, and if the picture is erased by itself under the influence of external factors, then the trunk is re-processed and a new one is drawn in its place. You can draw a “fairy portal” on a tree in parks throughout the city: in Kosinsky and Terletsky, Moskvoretsky and Tushinsky, in Kuzminki and Tsaritsyno.
“I can’t draw myself,” Tatyana laughs. – But the soul wanted something cool, interesting, real. And the idea found me. This project is not art for the sake of art, and certainly not a call to grab a brush and run into the nearest forest. Our main goal is to help the tree. And only then the drawings.
Already today in the capital there are about two hundred trees with images of drawn mice and squirrels, Snufkin and the Cheshire cat. Animals, elves, birds, landscapes, reproductions of works by Vincent van Gogh, Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, Rene Magritte, Gustav Klimt – which you will not see on trees.
“My favorite drawing is Klimt’s Kiss in Kuskovo,” says Tatyana. “Polina, who drew it, took three days to work.”
You can draw on trees only in the warm season: dry sunny weather allows the trunk to dry out after processing.
“If you seal excess moisture inside, it’s like a time bomb for a tree,” Tatyana explains. “Before continuing to work further, it is necessary that the place for the future drawing is well ventilated and dried.”
“I wanted to contribute and give people a little positive”
“I learned about the ParkArt campaign by chance,” says Alexandra Grigorieva, a Muscovite and one of the authors of the drawings in Terletsky Park. — In 2018, I moved to Perovo. I did not know the area well, so as soon as spring came, I began to ride a bike to explore the surroundings.
Once, when I drove into Kuskovsky Park, I saw a drawing on a tree. Then another. And further. I became interested. It turned out to be easy to find information – under each picture there was a hashtag #natureatut. I really liked the idea: creative, bright, beneficial for the trees. And I also decided to try.
I wanted to contribute and give people who see my drawing on a walk a little positive. After I contacted the curator and my participation in the action was agreed, I prepared a sketch.
I didn’t know what exactly I would like to draw, so I drew the first thing that first came to mind – a cat. After all, everyone loves cats. Why is he in space? At that time, I became interested in space themes, I liked to draw stars, so my cat became an astronaut.
The drawing took about five to six hours to complete. I thought it would be faster and easier, but it turned out that drawing on a tree is not so easy: I had to squat all the time, my legs and arms were numb, I had to take short breaks.
I would like to draw a new drawing, only bigger than the previous one. But I don’t know yet what exactly it will be depicted on it. The longer I think, the harder it is to come up with something and start doing it. Therefore, in my work, I like to make spontaneous decisions.”
Note that anyone can participate in the action. A letter with your data and examples of work can be sent by e-mail [email protected] (indicating the subject of the letter “Application for participation in the ParkArt action”).
Additional information can be obtained by calling 8 (499) 367-89-18.
You can follow the development of the project and the appearance of new drawings in the official accounts of Mospriroda in и .