Canberra artist Michael Ashley continues to capture the mood of the community with his beautiful image of Pooh Bear's Corner on the Clyde a year after bushfires devastated the South Coast.
It's a follow-up to another Pooh's Corner image he did in January last year in the wake of the tragedy, with Pooh Bear holding a sign thanking the firefighters as their trucks made their way back up the Kings Highway. It struck a chord with the image being shared around the nation and world.
Ashley's latest, equally moving, artwork shows the regeneration that is happening on Clyde Mountain, the fluffy tendrils of regrowth wending their way up the blackened tree trunks.
It's a positive development as Pooh throws his hands (paws?) in the air in celebration of the returning green.
"Another year has passed and it feels much longer since the devastating fires down the South Coast," Ashley said.
"I had been asked by many to do an image one year on for a number of reasons. I must admit I have been impressed by the regeneration but it's still very clear that the scars will time much longer to heal.
"I've done a tribute to this regeneration and this time it's looking down the mountain.
"Anyone that's gone down the Clyde over the past nine months would know this particular bend. It's probably the best reminder just how bad it got but also the miraculous work and luck that saved Pooh's Corner. It was one of many little victories."
Pooh's Corner, for the uninitiated, has been a favourite landmark of locals and visitors alike on the drive to and from the coast, with teddy bears left in the little roadside hideaway.
It was remarkably unscathed in the fires which ravaged the forest over last summer.
Pooh's Corner was created in the early 1970s by a Crookwell couple who wanted to distract their children on the drive to their holiday home at the coast.
It has grown to become a much-loved part of the local landscape.
For faster access to the latest Canberra news, download The Canberra Times app for iOS and Android.
