May 20, 2019 Program Recap
Spring Ephemerals Through an Artist’s Eyes
By Ruth Oldenburg
It was an enjoyable evening with the talented artist Georgia Donovan at the Izaak Walton League lodge and grounds. Georgia talked about a “different way of seeing” nature. She explained it as seeing through a child’s eyes or as a meditation. When Georgia looks at plants and insects, it is like her brain is making art. She encouraged us to open up ourselves to notice details such as color, shape, and lines in nature.
Georgia likes to take pictures with her smartphone and every day takes a “leaf of the day” photo that she posts on her Facebook page. After taking photographs, she crops them to highlight their detail. We saw many of her photos and some lovely paintings that she has created. There was a painting of a hickory leaf with holes that you can see the sky through. Other paintings depict large details of a beautiful Trillium flower and a Morning Glory.
Georgia is the artist who created our beautiful native plant and pollinator sign that is installed at our Native Plant Education Garden on Cherry Street. She created a wonderful map of the Izaak Walton League that is mounted by the door to the lodge.
After the talk, Georgia led us on a hike down by the pond and through the woods, noticing Spring plants along the way, like Marsh Marigold and Miterwort. We ended up at the Native Plant Garden, which was coming to life with White Baneberry and a sea of Celandine Poppies.
Thank you, Georgia for helping us “see” nature in a new light.
We ended the evening with our annual Native Plant Exchange. Everyone was in good spirits—choosing from a variety of plants to bring home. Who doesn’t love free plants!
White Baneberry Actaea pachypoda and Miterwort Mitella diphylla
Below: Celandine Poppies (Stylophorum diphyllum)
