Prairie on Painter’s Palette

By H E R E A B O U T S B E T H S E A R S

It seems fitting that Nannette “Nan” Wilson created a conservation painting while sitting in a room bordered by prairie grass and trees.

The Miami County artist recently donated the painting to the Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The organization will display it, along with conservation paintings form Ohio’s other 87 counties, during its annual meeting in Columbus later this month.

For Wilson, the project combined two of her lifelong interests.

The Newton Twp. woman is retired from Tipp City Schools after teaching art for 27 years. Over the years, she has created and received awards for artwork in a variety of mediums, including sculpture, weaving, macrame, ceramics, paintings and silkscreen.

After retiring from teaching, she volunteered for more than a decade at Brukner Nature Center, where she wrote curriculum for student programs, taught children, helped with displays and exhibits, and wrote the newsletter.

At age 74, she keeps busy mentoring students at Newton Local Schools, teaching art class and Sunday school at her church in Pleasant Hill, and volunteering at the Johnston Farm north of Piqua.

So, last fall, when the Miami County Soil and Water Conservation District announced it was seeking an artist who would create a painting representing Miami County for the Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts display in Columbus, it seemed like a good fit.

Wilson explained she learned about the project from Terry Lavy of the Miami County chapter of Pheasants Forever. Lavy, who helped Wilson establish a prairie on her farm, had seen some of Wilson’s artwork displayed in her home and encouraged Wilson to pursue the project.

Wilson did, and in November, started pursuing a subject for her painting. She explained that she and Linda Raterman from the Miami County Soil and Water Conservation District drove around Miami County taking photos of landscapes and looking for painting subjects. When Wilson saw a grist mill and saw mill on a farm along Staley Road in Bethel Twp., she decided she would use them as her subject.

For better composition, she moved the buildings in her painting. Instead of showing grain crops in the fields, she opted to paint prairie grass similar to that growing in the field near her home and studio.

Wilson then returned home to her studio where she worked for several hours daily on the painting.

“It was not an easy painting; there were lots of details,” she said.

Her farm, though, with its pond, trees and prairie grass, could provide inspiration for the work.

Wilson spent nearly 100 hours on the acrylic painting and finished it before Christmas. It will be displayed at the Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts headquarters.

(c) 2008 Dayton Daily News. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.