THE MEADOW PROJECT: IF YOU PLANT IT, THEY WILL COME

April 1, 2020 

It feels like a cruel April Fools joke but today I finally just got the long awaited but expected official cancellation  of The Meadow Project: If You Plant It They Will Come due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  I would be lying if I didn’t confess my immense disappointment in the unfolding of  events with respect to my exhibition but I am taking my consolation in the recent event of my work “becoming a part of Ontario’s cultural history.” To have work in a public collection is a very big line in an artist’s bio so if that is all I do this year then that’s ok 😊

 I hope all my family and friends and art lovers like you will guard your health as the precious jewel that it is.  God bless. Cheryl 

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Art Space Connect Gallery at Neilson Park Creative Centre is booked for my 3 week solo multi-media exhibition April 21- May 9 in 2020. This period also happens to include Earth Week.  Pending re-opening of the gallery , during the three weeks, I hope to encourage and/or inspire local children and adults alike to enjoy a more natural environment in their own yards.

Why native plants?
Do you have a garden? Are you a busy person?  

Perennial plants native to our region are not only beautiful but self-sufficient  when chosen properly. This is  key. I also chose plants that deer do not prefer. I don't even need to water or fertilize them. Talk about low maintenance! 

Twenty different species of perennial native* plants and native grasses were seeded in a ploughed and cultivated meadow area on our property. Now we have a parade of beautiful changing bloom throughout the three seasons.  Each serves a purpose in the ecological community. When was the last time you saw any of the species of purple coneflower growing in the wild?

Do you think we are going to run into problems with water supply?

 I have  dry sandy soil  so I chose plants that are suitable for dry sandy soil. Native perennial plants survive with the amount of naturally occurring moisture when chosen appropriately. We have resources that indicate which plants to choose for every soil type. Wet, dry, sandy, loamy etc.

Would you consider yourself ecologically conscious? 
More than ever, every bit of educated ecological effort on the part of individual citizens helps our natural world. If you plant it, they will come: the birds, the bees, all the pollinators. 

Since the meadow was planted, the number of colourful birds and butterflies species returning to enjoy the native meadow plants increases every year. If you plant it, they will come. We also have lots of bees.  A couple years ago, I began identifying the butterflies. My count of identified butterfly species is currently at 21 and I'm talking about the fancier butterflies. Before the native meadow, we did not see them. If you plant it, they will come.

Global trade is bringing invasive species to our land. Every citizen who pulls out an invasive plant or grows a native plant is making a difference.

By the way, you wouldn't believe in a pollinator crisis if you heard the racket that the busy buzzers make when the Black Locust tree is in bloom. Black Locusts are native trees. 

The Exhibition
With my paintings,  I express the joy and delight I feel in the growth of the meadow from dirt and seed through to spectacular bloom. 

I will use my paintings, photographs and videos of life in and around the meadow to demonstrate the natural colours, rhythms, patterns and diversity that freely abound when we help Mother Nature find her way back home. My acrylic paintings are abstracted simplified landscapes. Some paintings are more abstract than others. The works are mostly concerned with simple shapes and texture but the original subjects are generally recognizable as an artistic interpretation of the meadow and its environs. The two video installations will provide two different perspectives of life in the meadow.

The exhibition is free and all are welcome.

Because the exhibition is in April, some exhibition visitors will be preparing to head to the garden centres. May they be inspired to plant these self-sustaining locally grown native plants in their own gardens soon afterward. It will make a difference. And they will enjoy the difference.

*Native plants: the plant species that grew naturally before the first settlers arrived in the 1600s and started clearing the land for farming