Art exhibit highlights conservation for backyard insect life
by Karen Jean Smith
Gallery Coordinator
Have you noticed? There are far fewer fireflies in our backyards than just 10 years ago. The monarch butterfly populations are in serious decline, as are native species of bumblebees.
Artist Ellen Haffar draws attention to concerns for these little beings in “Backyard Serengeti,” an exhibit of paintings that will be on display in the Art Gallery at Baltimore Woods Nature Center from March 1 through April 26.
The gallery is located in the John A. Weeks Interpretive Center at 4007 Bishop Hill Road, Marcellus. The public is invited to attend the reception on Saturday, March 2 from 2 until 4 p.m. In addition, the show will be available for viewing on Monday through Friday, 9 to 4 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 to 4 p.m. There are no admission or parking fees, and all art work will be for sale.
“The energy of insects and the dioramic spaces discovered in a garden, a meadow, or a hedgerow inform my compositions and layered surfaces.” Haffar said. “Dynamic and full of vibrating life, my paintings seek to capture the complexity and richness of invertebrate species and their ecosystems.”
In order to depict her chosen subjects, Haffar has done observational research in her own garden and at Pratts Falls County Park where she has also photographed specimens. In addition, her online research has helped her to understand aspects of insect life, such as the underground nests of bumblebees.
Haffar finds parallels between the complicated issues of animal conservation in Africa, where the true Serengeti lies, and our treatment of animal species here in North America, and indeed, in our own backyards.
The loss of species, she well knows, negatively affects the immediate as well as the greater ecology and disrupts the food chains of all beings. Many of the creatures impacted are the smallest among us, often unnoticed, the “mini beasties” that the artist helps us see more vividly.
Haffar’s unique, energetic style and limited color palette give a visual cohesion to the exhibit in addition to the underlying theme.
Her compositions are rendered with a combination of drawing in charcoal and painting with matte acrylics. Metallics and other specialty acrylics are used “to emulate the iridescence, motion and energy of the insects.”
Haffar lives and works in the hills of Pompey in Upstate New York. Her work is often infused with color and nearly always influenced by nature and a sense of place. She holds degrees from SUNY New Paltz and Syracuse University. Her work has been exhibited extensively and is held in collections both nationally and internationally.
“If we consider our own backyards as spaces worthy of conservation, we can each have an effect on our collective environment,” Haffar said.
For those inspired by this exhibit, Baltimore Woods Nature Center invites the public to attend its annual Native Plant Sale on May 17 and 18.
Many native plants, which encourage insect populations to thrive, will be featured and master gardeners will be available to answer questions. Mark your calendar and join us to learn about and support the mini-beasts of your “backyard Serengeti.”
