Near the Fairy Creek blockade, artist Jeremy Herndl paints and fights for 1000-year-old trees

In an effort to protect British Columbia’s last stands of old-growth forest from logging, artists are being brought into the temperate rainforests on south western Vancouver Island to make art inspired by these ancient trees.

Jeremy Herndl spent two months in Eden Grove, an original forest on Edinburgh Mountain north of Port Renfrew, B.C. During his time, he created six feet-by-five foot portraits of large trees, some predicted to be more than 1000 years old.

“Painting a portrait is a very