By Tereasa Christopherson-Tso
Tereasa is a Solano County-based artist who is working with Arts Benicia on an “artivism” exhibit focused on water conservation. Tereasa reached out to SuSol about visiting one of the demonstration food forests established through our Solano Sustainable Backyards program, and visited “Living and Learning” in Benicia, where she beautifully captured the garden in spring. She has given us permission to share her painting and artist statement, which we feel encapsulates why these gardens are so important.
You can visit “Living and Learning” and other demonstration food forest gardens during our annual Benicia & Vallejo garden tour on April 27. Learn more and register here!
Keep an eye out for a special exhibition that brings together Arts Benicia and Vallejo Center for the Arts for “Stewarding our Water Resources: Solano Artists Create, Collaborate & Educate” from May 25 through June 23.
Goodbye Grass, Acrylic, 18”x24”
I have always been a lover of pure nature where I find joy in exploring landscapes in their wildest forms and where nature alone stewards the land. The arresting beauty of the forest and the awesome vastness of the ocean have never ceased to stir my soul with creative inspiration. This past year, however, I began exploring what it means to not only be an admirer of plants and bodies of water but how to better steward them. I began attending numerous workshops held by Sustainable Solano and touring gardens they had installed for people’s yards and community gardens. This inspired my garden efforts this year and the desire to create a garden as Monet did to inspire his paintings but also one that takes into account the high value of water as a limited resource here in northern California.
I found inspiration for this painting from a front yard garden in Benecia that Sustainable Solano installed. I had the pleasure of working with their Program Manager Nicole [Newell] to tour gardens I was interested in painting for this project. Here drought tolerant plants are seen throughout the landscape, a pathway of wood mulch provides a protective layer over the dirt, and native golden poppies have sprouted up in all their super-bloom glory. By excluding grass and using more sustainable garden practices this yard requires very little water yet does not sacrifice beauty.
