There’s an old proverb, its origins rooted in Greek and Indian history, that goes something like “blessed is he who plants trees under whose shade he will never sit”.<\/p>\n
Standing at the foot of the Grampians\/Gariwerd National Park, with Mount Abrupt looming large behind him, retired farmer Bill Weatherly offers his own, very Australian, version of the phrase:<\/p>\n
“An old man planting trees, it says something.<\/p>\n
“I just think it’s a great pleasure to plant a tree and, yes, it’s a statement of hope, I suppose,” he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bill Weatherly has lived most of his life in the Grampians region. (ABC News: Olivia Sanders)<\/p>\n
Formerly the president of The Friends of the Forgotten Woodlands, Mr Weatherly continues to volunteer with the group, which, over the past decade, has planted and distributed close to 50,000 trees across Victoria’s western region.<\/p>\n
In the bushy plains stretching from the base of Mount Abrupt, a 161-year-old painting is helping to guide their restoration efforts.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nicholas Chevalier’s famous 1864 oil painting of Mount Abrupt in the Grampians\/Gariwerd ranges.\u00a0 (ABC News: Olivia Sanders)<\/p>\n
A landscape painted<\/p>\n
Off a gravel road in rural Dunkeld, through three farm gates, and past mobs of sheep, you’ll find a large grassy clearing owned by Nature Glenelg Trust.<\/p>\n
Here, famed Russian-born artist Nicholas Chevalier sat to observe the landscape, sketching the green plains, the meandering creek, the imposing volcanic mountain range \u2014 before heading to his studio to capture the magnificence with oil paints.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Russian artist Nicholas Chevalier was struck by the majesty of the Grampians mountain range.\u00a0 (Supplied: Wikipedia)<\/p>\n
The artist created three versions of the image titled Mt Abrupt, The Grampians c.1864 oil on canvas \u2014 the most iconic of which is held by the Hamilton Gallery.<\/p>\n
The gallery’s curator, doctor of philosophy Samantha Happ\u00e9, said Chevalier’s realistic approach had made him an important figure among colonial Australian artists, many of whom would paint European-style landscapes, then “modify” them by adding bushland flourishes.<\/p>\n
“They’d paint the same techniques and the same palettes and the same imagery as the English landscape, but then they’d throw something a little bit Australian in there,” Dr Happ\u00e9 said.<\/p>\n
“Whereas Chevalier \u2026 would go out of his way to try to actually show Australian trees and Australian scenery as it is.”<\/p>\n
Samantha Happ\u00e9 says Chevalier painted the landscape as it truly was. (Supplied: Samantha Happ\u00e9)<\/p>\n
She said the striking nature of Chevalier’s Mount Abrupt is due to the romantic tradition of painting in which he was working.<\/p>\n
“The German and Russian Romantics believed in the power of the landscape and the emotions that a landscape can create,” Dr Happ\u00e9 said.<\/p>\n
“The style was very scientific and technical. They had to make sure they got the exact right type of soil, the exact right type of leaf on the tree.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Emma Stuart’s Mud-dadjug, a new view, is inspired by Chevalier’s 1864 painting. (ABC News: Olivia Sanders)<\/p>\n
As part of the Hamilton Gallery’s current exhibition, Emma Stuart: One Land, Many Views, which ends on Sunday, September 7, Chevalier’s masterpiece is reinterpreted.<\/p>\n
Stuart’s striking work \u2014 Mud-dadjug, a new view \u2014 depicts Chevalier’s landscape in an entirely new way, using Gariwerd sand on wooden panels.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
An exhibition of Emma Stuart’s work ends on Sunday, September 7. (Supplied: Hamilton Gallery)<\/p>\n
Painting to planting<\/p>\n
The specificity of Chevalier’s work has been invaluable to the replanting efforts undertaken by The Friends of the Forgotten Woodlands.<\/p>\n
“The paintings show quite clearly what species was growing in that spot \u2014 you’ve got artistic licence and all that to consider, but it does give a bit of a picture,” Mr Weatherly said.<\/p>\n
“It validated perhaps what we were trying to do \u2014 getting the trees back in the landscape.”<\/p>\n
The landscape has changed significantly in the past 160 years, with different types of plants and trees becoming more prominent than the colourful banksia, she-oak, and bursaria trees featured in Chevalier’s painting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The revegetation project is using the 1864 oil painting as a guide to which native species used to grow in the area. (ABC News: Ted O’Connor)<\/p>\n
About five years ago, the volunteers decided to restore the area to its former glory, with the help of Chevalier himself and his iconic painting.<\/p>\n
“It didn’t take many steps to think, well, it’d be interesting to \u2026 recreate that image,” he said.<\/p>\n
The group has now planted 400 banksia , she-oak, and bursaria trees in the area.<\/p>\n
Their work doesn’t stop there, though.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The group also collects seeds and propagates from remnant plant populations, with ecologists then mixing the genetics to establish new populations that can better overcome issues associated with inbreeding and changing environments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mount Abrupt is a popular destination among hikers.\u00a0 (ABC News: Ted O’Connor)<\/p>\n
‘We’re lucky to be here’<\/p>\n
“It’s been a great pleasure for me after my farming life to be part of something which I hope is worthwhile,” Mr Weatherly said.<\/p>\n
“Sharing that experience with other people who are like-minded \u2014 it’s a real pleasure.”<\/p>\n
Standing in the same spot where Chevalier once stood, Mr Weatherly says he often reflects on the beauty of the environment in which he has spent most of his life.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bill Weatherly says planting trees is a “statement of hope”. (ABC News: Olivia Sanders)<\/p>\n
“We’re lucky to be here \u2026 for these magnificent red gums, the river down below us, the banksias with their honeysuckle flowers … we can still hear the pardalote birds in the trees and cockatoos,” he said.<\/p>\n
“It’s still an attractive landscape, but what a rich landscape this would have been a couple of hundred years ago.<\/p>\n
“And how striking that mountain is. It just stands over us. This is a pretty good spot to be.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There’s an old proverb, its origins rooted in Greek and Indian history, that goes something like “blessed is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,85800,134,85802,33479,85801,47850,85797,85804,85803,85799,85798],"class_list":{"0":"post-121849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-bill-weatherly","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-gariwerd","13":"tag-goodnews","14":"tag-mount-abrupt","15":"tag-native-plants","16":"tag-nicholas-chevalier","17":"tag-replanting-native-flora","18":"tag-revegetation","19":"tag-the-forgotten-woodlands-group","20":"tag-the-grampians"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}