Artist: Sarah Schwieger
Medium: Oil on panel
Titles:
In Flanders Fields (Acrylic on panel)
Hoya australis ‘Lisa’
Anthurium moodeanum
Oxalis triangularis purple
Philodendron ‘White Wizard’
About the Artwork:
In Flanders Fields
I lived near an overseas army base when 9/11 happened. It was terrifying. I saw the parents of my classmates increase their training in the weeks following. And then they left. My dad left too. Some of our friends didn't come home alive. Their memory impacts me today. I may not die for my country, but I can live for my country. I can be actively involved in politics, I can volunteer in my community, I can try every day to raise children who will be an asset to the world. This tiny piece is titled In Flanders Fields after the poem by John McCrae, shared below. In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.
Hoya australis ‘Lisa’
In the entire world, no two plants are exactly the same. They may be the same variety, they may even have the same number of leaves, but do their roots branch out in the exact same way? Are the leaves the exact same size or shape? In the entire world, no two humans are exactly the same. We may have been born in the same city, we may even have the same number of siblings, but have our joys and losses branched through our lives in the exact same way? Are our freckles and wrinkles the exact same size or shape? We often find beauty in plants because of their distinct, unusual characteristics. Can we learn to see ourselves the same way? Can we learn to see ourselves and others the same way — to marvel at the beauty of our uniqueness?
