Life, Nature, Art

  It's not as though I have placed the painting Song of the Lark front and center in my lifetime of thinking about art...In fact, only now as I am writing this, do I begin to realize how integral it has been in my experience of Life, Nature, and Art.

    My love of Nature has been part of me since I can remember, a strange thing for a kid brought up in a big city. Once again, though, my father was instrumental in setting the course of my passions in life...He loved Nature himself and set the stage for my future by bringing our whole family out to Lisle, Illinois to walk the paths of the Morton Arboretum.

   The Arboretum is a 1400-acre spread of woods, small lakes, grasslands, a marsh and a river. It was originally the estate of Morton Salt Company owner Joy Sterling Morton, and boasts living collections of trees from around the world and a research and education function as well. To a child growing up in a tract house with a bus stop in front and a lilac bush in a backyard of crabgrass, the Arboretum was heaven. To see a flock of Canada geese grazing on grass next to a pond, to behold a spring meadow strewn with daffodils, to walk under giant contorted pine trees or through a hemlock forest, were thrills that I couldn't get in the city. Being at the Arboretum became an adventure, and I quickly developed a desire to explore that is still part of me today--What is around the next bend, over the next hill, down the other path? I knew wherever the path would take me, there would be some wonder or delight waiting to surprise me, if only I could learn to notice, to see, to listen.

    So here is where Art and Nature converged in my life: As I spent more time outdoors, the gift of the lark's song in the painting became a gift that I could experience in reality. The hunger for beauty, the delight of seeing wildlife in their natural element, the urge to explore--as I grew up, these things became part and parcel of who I am. And so in a way I became the girl in that painting--a common person, gifted with uncommon moments, brought to me by Nature. I came to believe that we are put on this earth to see, so by the time I was in high school, I decided I wanted to become what I termed "a connoiseur of light."  I wanted to experience, to remember, all the possible permutations of light the sky could offer. I wanted to know the behavior of clouds, the dance of wind, the music of trees. I wanted to witness the secret world of wild animals, to follow the curl of wavelets in a brook, to be astounded by the thousand wonders that a walk in the natural world can bring. I wanted to live my life open to being amazed, astonished, and delighted by Nature. The "song of the lark" became the sound in my life that I would always be listening for.

       

Comments

[Marty Cusack]

Judy - Just a note to thank you for talking about The Morton Arboretum on your blog. We're always glad that people can find joy, inspiration and enlightenment among our 1,700 acres featuring almost 3,900 types of trees, shrubs and other woody plants. I hope you continue to visit us and give us feedback on your experiences here. We also urge all your readers to come out and experience nature here and to let us know about their experiences and what we can do to help everyone connect with Nature.

thanks,
marty cusack