Julianne Skai Arbor

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About Julianne Skai Arbor
Julianne Skai Arbor, aka TreeGirl, is the recipient of the 2017 Nautilus Book Award for Photography for her interdisciplinary photography book, TreeGirl: Intimate Encounters with Wild Nature. She is certified as an arborist through the International Society of Arboriculture, as a California Naturalist through the University of California, and has taught interdisciplinary college-level conservation education for over 10 years, including pioneering the first program in environmental arts. She holds graduate degrees in Environmental Education and Arts and Consciousness Studies. With her passion for trees she creates an experiential bridge to connect people with nature through forest ecotherapy. She lives in Sonoma County, California amidst the native oak trees. Her gallery of images can be found at www.TreeGirl.org.
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Blog postThe Phenomenality of Japan's Sacred Shinto Trees
© Julianne Skai Arbor
The 1200 year old Okusu Camphor Shrine tree on ShiShi Island As the self-portrait photographer and arborist TreeGirl, I have spent hours of intimate time with hundreds of trees—some of the most ancient and largest individuals on the planet. My fascination with trees is equally ecological, sensory, and spiritual, but I mostly depend on my intuitive senses to guide me. I seek these trees out like a trea11 months ago Read more -
Blog postMy name is “TreeGirl” (capital T, capital G) because so much of my life’s purpose, identity, and bliss revolve around meeting and photographing myself in the nude with trees around the world. Trees are my passion and purpose. I love learning about and from trees, educating others about trees and how to connect with them, having an ineffable spiritual connection with trees, and being in loving, respectful service to them.
I kind of think I was chosen by the trees; I don’t really have a ch6 years ago Read more -
Blog postFor 37 out of 46 consecutive days I was naked in the wild.
The Cathedral Fig, (Green Fig- Ficus virens), a kind of strangler fig, is home for many beings in the Atherton Tablelands, Queensland.
I returned recently from an ecstatic expedition Down Under to the exotic lands (for us northerners) of Australia and New Zealand for an epic TreeGirl photo shoot and returned with photos of 30 new species. With the exception of a few days of e7 years ago Read more -
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Blog postForest Bathing sounds like something TreeGirl would be in to. After all being naked in the forest is a relaxing and cleansing experience. But there are no bars of soap or towels in this activity. In fact, forest bathing is more akin to basking in the atmosphere and the life force energy of the forest. It is both a healing practice of contemplation and multi-sensory engagement while taking a relaxing stroll through the forest. This is ecotherapy at its simplest: nature = healing. Lots of t8 years ago Read more
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Blog postWhile visiting Seattle in early April, I had an intuitive TreeGirl hit that there must be some Big trees nearby. I tuned into my TreeGirl radar, and with the help of the internet, I found them. Over the ferry and through the woods to the beautiful wet, west coast of British Columbia I went. Although it was not my genetic grandmother's house I was visiting, one could call these ancient trees are our grandmothers, and indeed they are for the First nations peoples who have dep9 years ago Read more
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Blog postAutumn is here! That means it is Acorn gathering and eating season!
ABOUT ACORNS
For thousands of years, people who lived among oaks in the Northern Hemisphere relied heavily on acorns as a food source. In fact, acorns and chestnuts were the primary sources of carbohydrates until the domestication of agriculture and wheat, starting 10,000 years ago. Even after the large-scale production of grains, acorns continued to be an important food staple. Peoples who ate acorns as a ma10 years ago Read more -
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Blog postLast month, I went on a TreeGirl tree hunt with my treegirl friend to the rainy Olympic Peninsula in western Washington State. The object of our desire was an ancient, thousand year old tree, and the former world's 'biggest' Western Redcedar tree (Thuja plicata, not a true cedar at all, but in the cypress family).
Before the trip, we had only seen one photo, and knew not yet where this tree resided. Would the tree be as magnificent as the picture and worthy of a tr10 years ago Read more -
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