Sage Nest, 16″ x 20″ , acrylic on canvas, private collection ©lizamyers
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
– Albert Einstein
The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.
– John Muir
I’m just not the outdoor type.
– Liza Myers, age 5
My childish (and untrue) words were spoken after a rainy, mosquito-besieged camping trip in a car crowded with three of my five siblings, (the other two weren’t born yet) and our German Shepherd, at a place somewhere in western Maryland that I vaguely remember was called Swallow Falls.
(My parents never let me forget that declaration.)
Their intention was to instill an appreciation of the outdoors, of wilderness and a connection with nature.
They succeeded.
My first cowgirl hat, age 8, somewhere overlooking the badlands in South Dakota. I suspect that if this had this been a color photo there would be a spectacular sky and cloudscape behind my grumpy face.
Throughout my childhood we birded, hiked, identified plant species and watched wildlife with a scientific sense of wonder and awe. We spent hours pouring over identification books for birds and butterflies; peering through botanical hand lenses and gardening both for food and beauty.
All the while I was training my eye to see the beauty and details of nature while gathering visual reference for the art to come.
We moved a lot.
My father’s engineering work moved us all over the western hemisphere. Our travels helped me see the planet as connected. My backyard was a Maryland meadow, a Nicaraguan rainforest, an Andean eucalyptus studded hillside, even the Gulf of Mexico with coral reefs just a dinghy’s row away.
Plein air sketches in the Peruvian Amazon, Plein air sketches in the Peruvian Amazon, waiting for the giant river otters to return to my side of their oxbow lake.
I will always be immensely grateful to my parents for their sense of adventure and dedication.
The intention of my art has always been to express this sense of connection to the wonder of nature and the unity of the planet.
Lotus Nest, acrylic on canvas, 40″ x 60″ ©lizamyers Currently available through True West Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
I love the painting – real and surreal – the light against dark, the tips of pink on white, so dramatic. Your article conjures memories of your parents in their tropical home, surrounded by huge trees and birds. What a life you have lived.
Shelley, THANK YOU! You have had far more global adventures than I, Ms. Global Griff! But I know we were very lucky to have bold, adventurous parents. You are the bold, adventurous parents in your family. And your children are citizens of the world!
Loved hearing more about your childhood and global travels, and how your parents installed this love of nature in your siblings and you at an early age. Gives wonderful insight into your beautiful work.
Thanks Nanci. We were lucky. It wasn’t easy all the time, but we learned so much!