Severe fires are burning across Australia, catastrophic in nature and getting worse, attributed largely to a changing climate fuelled by human exploit. Thousands of firefighters, some professional but most volunteers, are sacrificing work, family, their own homes and even their lives, to fight the fires and protect the lives of others and property.
Watching the South Australian Country Fire Service (CFS) and NSW Rural Fire Service updates for the last month has been incredibly difficult. As someone who lives in the city, I’m not in danger of personal loss but those threatened and affected are so close and include so many family, friends, whole communities and businesses.
In 2016, I held an exhibition “The Magpie and the Flames” at Kersbrook Hill Wines who lost a large portion of their vineyards to the Sampson Flat Fires of 2015. The exhibition featured a number of vignettes and characters drawn from the stories told by Paul Clark who stayed to defend the property. Thankfully, this year, his vineyard has been spared but many vineyards in the area have been directly effected in 2019, especially Tilbrook Estate Wines who’ve lost everything.
I still have many of these prints, and some original drawings, left from the exhibition and have decided to sell them at a reduced cost with a large portion of the sale price (50–70%) donated to the South Australia Country Fire Service.
The Stubborn Koala (Special HOPE Edition), 2016.
With the fires raging, many koalas climb to the tallest branch and hold on for dear life, hoping the fire will pass them by. They can deal with a light singe but in the recent fires many are being wiped out completely. With time and care the lands can recuperate but only if we do our best to make it so.
I have also created a special print of The Stubborn Koala in an open edition with 70% of the sale price donated to Adelaide Koala Rescue.
Please purchase prints from “The Magpie and the Flames” here and share it around. Prints will be posted early 2020.
If you like, you may also donate directly to SA CFS, NSW RFS, and many other charities. The Guardian has a list of recommended organisations and charities to make sure your funds are going where they’re needed.