Endangered Plants Index Degree Project

As I have started to work through my ‘official’ list of plants, I am now also thinking about my rewinding project, and how to get that kickstarted. I have quite a bit of experience in planning smaller, one off actions, but no experience in organising something like this, which I want to be a really big initiative. I have started planning it in the same way that I plan other projects however, creating a planning document, which I can add to and take away from over time, and just put all of my ideas etc. (As you can see above)

Creating a planning document like this is really beneficial and helpful, s it allows me to visualise all of the thoughts that I have in my head and start putting them down in a useful and functional way, and highlight where I need to work most, etc.

Unfortunately, as I started to plan, my mind went completely blank on how to organise anything, and so I have arranged to have a planning session with a fellow activist, just to get my mind in the right frame of mind and to hash it out into some semblance of a plan.

Additionally, I have also asked for the advice of some of my other friends and contacts who have started and worked on large projects such as ClimateLive, as hopefully they will be able to give me a much better idea of where to start, and how to start turning my idea into reality.

As I have mentioned before, in order to complete my project, I need to work out some way of funding it, and there are many ways that I can do this – the three main ways that I am thinking about at the moment being:

1. Patreon
2. Crowdfunding
3. Selling editions

Patreon:
Patreon is an online platform for creators, where they create exclusive content for their members – people who sign up and subscribe to them every month. The content that is created is often created alongside the ‘public’ content, and gives extra insight into their work process, or a behind the scenes view of the project. Additionally, when you create an account for your content, you can create different subscription levels, and reward your subscribers for supporting you – for example with messages or discounts on products etc. As it is a platform designed for creative people and art works (amongst other things), I think it would be a perfect place to share and publicise my work – as well as gaining extra funding from it at the same time.

Crowdfunding:
Crowdfunding (Crowdfunder) is in some ways quite similar to Patreon, as you are able to create content and rewards to persuade people to donate to your project. However, it is a platform designed exclusively for raising funds, so it is easier to raise a larger amount of money on there, and would be better for raising a more ‘bulk sum’ of money, than Patreon which would be more of a steady income. It is also possible to raise extra money through crowdfunding with their + Extra Funding scheme, where you are able to find large benefactors that are raising money for a variety of projects that fit in with their goal – such as combatting the climate crisis. (See below) Crowdfunded would also be the best way of raising funds for the rewinding side of the project too.

Image Source: Crowdfunder (2021) Aviva Climate Fund. Available at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/funds (accessed: 7 December 2021)

Selling Editions:
The final method of raising funds that I have thought of is selling editions of the illustrations that I make. Although this could be a beneficial potential source of income, I have decided not to pursue this avenue, as negotiating usage rights of imagery (due to the reference image sources) is too logistically difficult.

Having researched all three methods, I actually think that I will do a combination of all three – none have to be stand alone and the combination would not only enhance my chances of raising enough funds for my project’s full completion, but it would also give me a wider platform and a wider range of experiences in selling, promoting and raising funds for my art. However, I do have to be careful when I do this, as I don’t want to lose the focus of my project and the intention behind it, by selling editions for example. This is something that I am going to have to think much more about and explore in more detail – in order to make sure that my project doesn’t lose its identity or become overshadowed by any of the logistical elements.

Additionally, I am going to have to carefully curate a campaign around my project, combining both the art and the rewinding elements, in order to add weight and create a wider awareness of the project. Doing this will vastly increase the chances of my project reaching the wider world and therefore getting larger base of potential funders. Sadly, this probably involves setting up a social media account for my project, however, I may be able to find ways of using one of the accounts that I already have – making it easier to keep up to date with content creating etc.

Update: 14/12/21:

I spent a lot of time researching the actual size of the orchid flower, as the images that I have don’t show it. I have decided that I will use this flower as my next project illustration, and I will draw it at an enlarged size, so that knowing the size of the orchids in the photos that I have found online isn’t as crucial as it might otherwise have been. Instead, I will add scale bars to the drawing to let the viewer know that it has been enlarged, and what the original size was. 

After I completed my illustration of the Catacol Whitebeam, I started to plan my next drawing. Ideally, I wanted to illustrate another plant from Europe, as this would fit in well with my Re-wilding project and create a cohesive link between my practical work and the organisational side. However, I have had real issues in finding images of the plants that I want to draw – be they herbarium specimens or living ones.

The above image shows the section of the list that I have gone through to check whether there are images available to draw from. I have been using a variety of locations to find them – the Plants of the World website, the Natural history Museum website and the RBG Edinburgh website, but for most of them sadly, I haven’t been able to find images. I therefore decide to pick one that I know there are images of – the Montserrat Orchid – however this also presents problems for me, as I am unable to find an herbarium specimen of it (although I have photos of the living plant), which would provide me with a scale for size reference. As I want all of my illustrations to be as accurate as possible, – including the size that they are drawn at – this is a big issue, and as of yet, I am not sure how to overcome it. I might ask my peers if they think that it’s important that it is drawn to scale – or if I enlarge it – that it has scale/magnification lines next to the illustration to convey the actual scale…

(The above images are my illustration of the Catacol Whitebeam alongside the Herbarium Specimen from Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh)
The Catacol Whitebeam the most endangered plant species in Britain, with only one or two living specimens known, and although it is a recognised species in its own right, it is a cross between the Arran Service and Rowan trees (Coleman (2014))(1) – which gives the leaves of the Catacol Whitebeam their very distinctive shape. It’s scientific name: Sorbus pseudomeinichii  refers to the other closely related, yet distinct species Sorbus x meinichii, which is found in “southern Norway”, and which also has the distinctive leaf shape; “The pinnate leaves have 4-6 pairs of robust deep green leaflets, fused towards the tip” More, D., White, J. (2003)(2), but makes the distinction between the two.

There is only one live specimen of Catacol Whitebeam on the Isle of Arran, however, it has been propagated by the RBG Edinburgh (through germinating seeds, and “graft[ing] material onto the roots of ordinary rowan” (1)), and they now have a specimen in the garden – making the population status of the tree slightly more secure.

More information can be found here on the Botanic Stories page.

References:

1. Coleman, M. (2014) Arran’s Unique Trees. Available at:https://stories.rbge.org.uk/archives/13616 (Accessed: 26 November 2021)
2. More, D., White, J. (2003) Cassell’s Trees of Britain & Northern Europe: Over 1800 Species and Cultivars. London: Cassell, an imprint of Weidenfeld & Nicholson