Make a #LeafMotif!
From Save Our Street Trees Northampton
Save Our Street Trees would like you to create a #LeafMotif to celebrate the Urban Tree Festival 2021. All you need to do is collect leaves, petals or fallen twigs from your favourite urban trees and make a motif or mandala.
What is a nature motif or mandala? A motif is simple a repeated pattern or design. A mandala is a geometric pattern, often with a unifying centre, that represents the circle of life. They are as calming to look at as they are to make. We’ve created a video tutorial and step-by-step guide to help you make one.
Between May 15th and 23rd, 2021, your pretty patterns will be exhibited in a virtual gallery space at saveourstreettrees.org – and shared via social media under the hashtag #leafmotif.
We hope this project will help you notice and connect with your urban trees, and raise awareness of their importance in our towns and cities.
How to take part
Download our poster to tell your friends about the #leafmotif project. Put it up at school, in your office, or in your window at home.
Read our Step-by-Step guide and watch out video tutorial at saveourstreettrees.org/leafmotif – and get going!
Send your Leaf Motif to leafmotif@saveourstreettrees.org or share via #leafmotif, so we can share your work and display it in our gallery during the Festival.
Pop over to our virtual gallery space at saveourstreettrees.org/leaf-motif to find some inspiration – and see everyone’s designs during the Urban Tree Festival.
Some inspiration…
Save Our Street Trees is a community group and Tree Charter branch based in Northampton. It campaigns to promote, protect and plant valuable urban street trees. Founded by writer Alice Whitehead in 2016, its main focus is on trees in Northamptonshire, but the group supports urban tree activities and initiatives all over the UK. Save Our Street Trees believes urban trees have huge benefits for the health and wellbeing of people and the planet – and these benefits are greater the closer trees are to where people live and work. Find out more at saveourstreettrees.org.
When she’s not tree-hugging, Save our Street Trees founder and chair Alice Whitehead has spent more than two decades as a writer and journalist specialising in gardening, the environment and food and drink. She can be found at allotmentalice.co.uk and @allotmentalice.
Please Donate
Donations are essential to running the Urban Tree Festival and you can find out why here.