Tote Bag - 'Heaven and Nature Sing'

During the bleak and highly challenging year of 2020 when Melbournians were unable to travel far, many people took up regular walks to keep up the exercise and get some fresh air. I began walking along the Werribee River in Melbourne's outer-west. A five minute walk from my house, the river transports you to another place and you forget you're in suburbia. I had my own set of challenges to deal with on top of what everyone else was going through and the river became a much-needed sanctuary and place of healing. One morning, the river landscape seemed awash with colour as the sun rose and it felt like heaven and nature were singing - rejoicing - in the glory of the new day. The line from the well known Christmas carol 'Joy to the World' - "and heaven and nature sing..." came to mind and it seemed fitting to use that line as the title of this chalk pastel drawing. The drawing was based on one of the photos I took that morning. The same trees actually feature in a sepia pen drawing of mine as well. May these image remind you that in the darkest of times there is still hope and sometimes we just need some sunshine and a walk in nature to remind us of that.