Life Line for Our Times

 Once again this year, I am submitting a piece of art for the Orillia Women’s Day Art Show.  This year, the theme is Life Lines.  The artists are asked to submit 75 words or less with the artwork to link it with the theme.

As I pondered what to enter this year, the words “multi-media” came into my mind.  I have done beading before which is multi-media but I sensed that this time, an acrylic painting was also included as one media.  Soon after came a large image of a Heal-all plant rising out of it’s forest community of plants just as I had experienced it this past summer.  It seemed to shimmer and vibrate with energy so I added some silver sparkles to the area around the yellow “glow” to express that to the viewer.  And then I printed out some studies on using Heal-all to treat COVID-19 and cut the titles of the scientific articles into the shape of clouds which I stuck to the canvas and voila, it was multi-media!

I chose to paint the Heal-all plant much larger than life so that the little lipped flowers all over the flower head could be seen in their their intricate beauty.  Even the flower head demonstrates community.  And then this one Heal-all plant is just one of many in a community.  I had met these plants in the forest during the first lock-down in which the forest community welcomed me to be a part of it.  

My partner designed and constructed the frame for me.  Since I head met the Heal-all plants in the forest, I wanted the frame to express this idea so that the forest community could be represented.  He had a piece of wood that was taken from the floor of the old house next door during a renovation.  The wood had been stored for years, but when the neighbours sold the house last winter, the wood was gifted to my partner.  It is likely the white pine that grew so abundantly here until the settlers cut them all down.  I live in an old lumber mill town that was once a bustling community until the mill shut down 100 years ago.  The forest where I met the Heal-all was also deforested at that time and then reforested about one hundred years ago as well.  Carpenter ants had eaten holes through the old wood from the neighbours so my partner chose to use those holes to an artistic advantage.  He threaded Wild Grape vines through the holes to give the idea of vegetation surrounding the Heal-all plants.

And so, this piece represents relationships and community on many levels and it amplifies the voice of the plant world that is still offering healing and relationship to us despite it all.  The choice is ours.

This is what I wrote to accompany the piece:  “During the 2020 lockdown, I encountered a vibrant community of tall Heal-all plants in a nearby forest.  They seemed to be offering medicine to me.  I dried their leaves and flowers for tea to treat the flu.  I also made a flower essence from the tiny flowers.  I later learned that this plant (Prunella vulgaris) is used medicinally world-wide and it is being researched as a treatment for COVID-19.  Renewing our relationships with healing plants is truly a Life Line of our times.”