My Journey of Inspirations

I was looking for answers and I found them in nature. Come with me on a journey diving into the ultramarine crystal-clear water of the oceans.

In 2007 is when the story of Whale of a Time began, during the Vote of the International Whaling Commission. I had come across a video on YouTube about the slaughter of dolphins and whales by the Japanese whalers, and I felt a deep sense of connection with these animals. To improve the way I felt about the world, I needed to do something about this issue.

In order to be able to respect others, you have to respect your own feelings first and do something about what you feel strongly about. My solution was to find a way of doing something positive about the issue and at the same time to help people to connect with other people who are sharing these views. I started by making a presence for animals on MySpace by registering 100 animal species at www.myspace.com/voiceofthewhale

Whale of a Time

I realised that I could use my skills as an artist and envirionmentalist to run clay modelling workshops to raise awareness of endangered species. Clay is natural as it comes from the earth itself and is a good material to convey a message to connect with nature. Also artists in prehistoric times drew their inspiration from nature. The earliest known European cave paintings date from 32,000 years ago in Chauvet in southern France. These paintings tell us about animal species, hunting and predatory animals, human rituals and their perception of the world. Culture reflects the human condition and it is the platform of inspiration and creative development.

Dring the summer of 2007 I tried out the idea and organised clay modelling workshops during festivals including Sunrise, Glade, Big Green Gathering and Waveform Festival. I found that it was a great success with children and adults and the project started to expand and develop into a community of environmental artists. Whale of a Time was set to sail and get the message through.

Grown out of the multicultural capital city in London is Whale of a Time that sprouts environmental thoughts into the atmosphere and creatively paints nature into our culture with the aim of growing back to our roots to a harmonious being with nature and the living organism - our blue planet Earth. Whale of a Time is sawing seeds running events and creative workshops on environmental issues in order to create an environmentally-conscious community.

In autumn 2007 the Whale of a Time Species Modelling Workshop was booked at the Earl’s Court Boat Show and was a huge success. Over 500 people used their artistic skills to sculpt dolphins, starfish, whales, octopi, basking sharks, great white sharks, a frog and even a penguin with a snorkel. Celebrity attendees included Hollywood actress Elle Macpherson and famous rower Dom Mee who crossed the Atlantic. It was then when I realised that running the workshops could have a huge impact not just during festivals but also in the city where the connection to nature is needed the most. This is when I started working on getting the workshop into youth and community centres across London.

Play Radio Caroline Interview live at the Earl's Court Boat Show 08

I feel the purpose of life is to learn living in harmony with our planet. I’m proud of being the result of millions of years of evolution and coexistence. I know that I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for everything else around me. It’s really important for me to feel and express love, gratitude, freedom, harmony and peace. There are too many excuses in this world that we can make for all the destruction that we see around us. In fact it's all a reflection of ourselves.

I’d like to inspire every person in this world to harness their creativity to do something about this. Humans are creative beings, and we need to tap into our creative energies and use it to build a society where harmony and balance is priority to live within all ecosystems on Earth. Mother nature is so wonderful and she provides us with everything that we need. We owe it to her and to protect our own species survival.

Whales and Dolphins

Whales and dolphins are perfect creatures and show great compassion for each other as well as their environment. They are having a whale of a time! Scientifically we don't know a great deal about these creatures. We only found out in 2007 that whales can reach high age up to 140 years and from Inuit's knowledge we know that whales live twice a human lifetime. These are scientific facts that were difficult to prove. The whale killed in 2007 had a harpoon from the 18th century inside his body. Are we right to kill creatures that outlive us humans by double the lifetime? Are we right to kill creatures that weigh 2,500 times more than we do? Are we right to kill creatures that sing the most beautiful songs of the sea? Are we right to kill beings that have a lower birth rate than we humans have? Is this sustainable? These ecosystems and species are irreplacable. Can we value life with money?

If we're going against nature we are going against our own nature. Japanese whale hunters slaughter our cousins in the oceans for the so-called "scientific" research, but to really understand a subject fully one has to understand its feelings and purpose in life. What's the reason for murdering them? It hit me when I found out that the Japanese, Norwegian and Icelandic governments are pushing through to lift the ban on international whaling which has been in place since 1946 when an estimated 10% of most whale populations was all that remained after 200 years of slaughter which was threatening the very future existence of these giant mammals. It is frightening to imagine that the whales could disappear from our planet after having evolved over 18 million years, which is 13 millions of years longer than the human race has been around. What is our human intelligence for if not to put a stop to this and other inhumanities?

Living Jungle

I came across an image in the Metro September 2009 that showed the destruction of the rainforest in Borneo. The rainforest is one of the Earth largest ecosystem and without the healthy balance of these most pristine and primal life systems our planet would loose an imeasurable amount of biodiversity forever as the rainforest species don't exist anywhere else in the world due to its unique tropical climate.

Tropical rainforests are the most diverse ecosystems on earth. A four-square mile patch of rainforest contains as many as 1500 species of flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 125 species of mammals, 400 species of birds, 100 species of reptiles, 60 species of amphibians, and 150 species of butterflies. More than 50% of the world's plant and animal species inhabit the 7% of the world that is covered in rainforest.

Today, through the direct and indirect actions of man such as pollution, species of plants and animals are disappearing from the rainforests even before they can be cataloged and studied. The average rate of extinction in the rainforest is 140 per day and if this goes on, the animal and plant species in the rainforest would be wiped out even before we know it. That would be almost half of the total number of plant and animal species on Earth.

A large amount of destruction is due to palm oil and soya production. The consumer has the power. Organic certification verifies that the method of farming is sustainable. Traceability systems in organic food production ensure that we can confidently say that every batch of soya or palm oil comes from planet friendly producers. Consume consciously. Buying force controls the market.

During the Whale of a Time Event in 2008 I met an inspirational young man who has taken me to the rainforest in Peru which he had bought to preserve a breathtaking part of this world from destruction by profit-thinking corporations. His great spirit, enthusiasm and passion gave me courage to push myself even further and go beyond my dreams.

I'm feeling so much gratitude for all that I’ve received and all that we could share and I’m honouring our relationship in my precious heart. I'd like to send blessings and love to the great shamans of the magnificent rainforest who have kept the ancient powers of healing and wisdom of living in harmony with nature for thousands of years alive. May mother earth watch out for all of us and guide us on our path.

Since the experience of living in the rainforest my heart is feeling such a deep connection with the Earth. By actually experiencing this environment full of life I'm feeling so much love and peace in my heart which has guided me to see a beautiful vision and to share this dream and build a community for nature, healing and art in the magical rainforest. I created a fund to contribute to the preservation of the rainforest called "Living Jungle", meaning in English "Long Live The Rainforest". I'll certainly keep you updated on the progress and should you be interested in taking part please feel free to contact me. Living Jungle!

To Bee Or Not To Bee

Bees have also fascinated me because of their importance for pollination. Bees are so important for our food chain!

Without bees no pollination. Without pollination no fruits and vegetables.

There are many threats for our bees including pesticides, GM crops, diseases and parasites. In modern agriculture pesticides are used that kill off many different wild flower species which in return causes the extinction of many wild bee species. Additionally the soil flora and its higly important bacteria that turns vegetation into soil is being destroyed. Monsanto is one of the most horifying examples who produces the so-called pesticide "Round Up" which leaves a desert once applied.

While the great dying of the bees is an unsolved mystery around the globe, I was able to experience the work involved in bee-keeping and making a film about the bees called "To Bee Or Not To Bee" in Austria in summer 2009. The film is still in process of making and will appear on the website soon. Sadly I found that the ancient art of beekeeping is a dying art. Many young people have no interest in this ancient tradition and the question arises who will be looking after our bees in the future? Since the waroa mite has spread all over Europe the bee-keepers have become a necessary assistant who helps the bees to survive the attack of this deadly mite. Without bee-keepers no bees in Europe!

How can we support nature? Organic produce don't cause any harm to insects and organic certification verifies that the method of farming is sustainable. Crops are being grown in a natural way, without artificial fertilizers, chemical pesticides or genetic modification techniques. Organic means that there is no health risk for the consumer nor the environment.

Many species have been perceived as endangered because of hunting, habitat loss and degradation, chemical and noise pollution, global climate change, unmonitored by-catches, accidents and disturbance. Will we go down in history as the species that managed to drive most other species to extinction and the planet to destruction? Or can we start reorganising ourselves to change our journey to a more positive and harmonious future? We need to think of ways in which we can change our attitude and behaviour for their and our benefit. Join the Whale of a Time Community and become an ambassador for our planet securing future generations to come.