An Ode to a Tree: Whirly-whirly, Helicopter Tree, Kayu Kolek, Gyrocarpus Americanus

While on Christmas Island, there was one tree that was such a feature of the landscape, and I was constantly mesmerised by the branches on this tree - the 'Helicopter tree', 'Propeller tree' or 'Whirly-whirly tree' (Gyrocarpus americanus).

The branches of this tree really deserve the 'Whirly-whirly' name. Locally it is known as kayu kolek because the local Malay community used it to make koleks, a type of outrigger canoe, as a helpful sign at the Territory Day Park tells me.

For a few weeks at the start of our time on Christmas Island I had a view that was full of these trees. During our 6 months on the island, I must have sketched these trees more than any other tree (or likely more than any other subject).

Apart from their beautifully crazy branches, I found the colour of their light white-cream-grey bark really stood out whether in a sea of trees or a relatively open space. Even from the ocean, snorkeling or on a boat, looking back at the island, these trees stood out, and even more so when they had a flock of Red-footed boobies sitting in them.

This post, is just an ode to this tree in a variety of mediums.

The featured image above was done in pen and ink and then painted in with watercolour.

Pen and Ink

Another branch sketch from our balcony for the first month of our stay, done with the Sailor Fude 55degree pen.

Here is a silhouette of this tree with just the Pentel Brush pen (this is my favourite):

Watercolour and Watercolour Pencil

Here is another watercolour pencil and watercolour sketch (outline and base in watercolour pencil, overlayed with watercolours).

In this case, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to sketch when I picked up the watercolour pencils but found myself focusing on the shape of the branches then the colours of the trunk for a very enjoyable hour-ish of mindful sketching at the time. It is probably my second-favourite sketch of this tree.

Below on the left is a quick watercolour pencil sketch and on the right are bottles prepped with watercolour ground:

Here, a quick watercolour super loose sketch mainly done to show/remember the number of red-footed boobies in the trees. In this one small section of tree alone, there were about 13-15 birds!

Watercolour, then Acrylic Wall Paint

Nature Sketching has allowed me to notice more

It wasn't really intentional when I started, but trying different ways of recording the same thing has been a lot of fun and an interesting exercise. I'll admit I haven't done it as much since, but this has been a good little throwback and reminder to just play and sketch with my materials more.

My sketchbooks are how I interact with the world around me more mindfully and more closely - each time I've drawn or painted this same species, I've noticed something different - whether it is the shades of the bark or the way the leaves droop, the whirly branches and how they seem to tick upwards right at the end, how the branches come off the trunk etc.

Even though I hadn't written a lot in my sketchbooks at that point, nature journaling had already become a wonderful new way to practice mindfulness for me. A way to engage more closely with the places I'm in, to really carefully see what I'm trying to sketch, and in that process, to notice so much more than if I'd just taken a photo and called it a day.

It has also been so freeing because none of my sketchbook pages need to be 'perfect' - they're about the process of observing, wondering, noticing, engaging and recording, not necessarily about producing a fantastic finished piece (although I do often like the results ^.^).