Art is a very interesting concept. With an upcoming class at the Ely Folk School, Watercolor as a Pathway through Grief, I have been contemplating both art and grief in a new way.
In my contemplation and design of the course, the journey begins on two different paths. One path is about art: What is art? How do we make it? How do we consume it? What is perception? Process. Outcome. Flow. The other path is about grief: What is grief? What is an emotion? Can we feel it in our bodies? Our minds? How do we move on? Do we need to move on? Contemplation. Regret. Guilt. Release. And at some point, we will start to look around and see if these two paths intersect.
The class will be great, but it really got me thinking about art! Art is the ultimate expression. It is an extremely powerful way to experience something internally and articulate it outwardly. We humans experience very complex, nuanced things that are sometimes hard to talk about. It’s hard to be clear, it's hard to understand, and it's hard to share these things. So, when it feels impossible… art is shouting (or maybe whispering) something into the void - something you discovered, you unearthed. Something you feel intensely. Something you are afraid of. You release it into the void and someday, somewhere, someone will read, see, or experience whatever that artistic expression was - and they will understand it in a totally complete way. They will resonate. They will hear that shout as clear as a bell. That shout in the dark was meant for them.
Along the way, others may experience the art and appreciate it deeply. They appreciate the technique, the uniqueness, and the message that they perceive - and that's beautiful, no doubt. But my favorite thing is knowing that there is someone else out there who will get it. They need no further explanation, they will have no follow-up questions; you will have spoken the same language. The best example of this is when people interact with a piece of art and use the phrase, “It spoke to me.” It’s a perfect way to describe that interaction between the artist and the public. The artist used their work to say something, and, simply, that person heard it.
Another element of this interaction is that it has the power to transcend time and space. Artwork created centuries ago continues to strike chords in our modern-day perceptions. Centuries is one thing, but this is happening on shorter timelines as well. I had a customer come into the gallery in March of this year, on a very quiet day, who was a little beside herself describing a painting she thought I had at the shop. “Yellow… Blue… Woman in a chair…..???” I knew exactly the piece she was speaking of, and when I brought it out, we talked a bit. She said, “I saw this piece here last summer (the summer of 2025) and it’s been haunting me ever since. I can’t stop thinking about it. So, I came back to get it.”
This yellow, blue, woman-in-a-chair painting by Cecilia Rolando spoke to this woman that past summer. She drove home to her place in the Twin Cities, and that piece continued to speak to her for months and months. She made the drive up, in the middle of March, to finish that conversation and take the piece home. The important part to remember here is that hundreds of people walked into The Meadows throughout the summer of 2025. Hundreds of people saw the yellow, blue, woman-in-a-chair painting that Cecilia so thoughtfully painted. Hundreds of people saw it, noticed it, some enjoyed it, some didn’t. It may have spoken to a few. But, from the void, this painting spoke so clearly to this woman. It stayed with her, and she came back for it seven months later.
I got to experience this with a piece of art I had made. I had a small watercolor called Your body is asking for new golden light. It was in a frame and hanging up in my studio in the back of the gallery. A customer was walking around a bit and ended up finding that small painting. It struck him; it spoke to him. He asked who the artist was - there I was - and he was so happy to be able to connect with me. To be with the person who created a piece of art - who shouted something into the void - something that he heard and understood. He had no interest in buying the piece; that wasn’t important to him. He just wanted to connect - human to human.
Pretty powerful.
I love experiencing this at The Meadows! It’s potent and powerful. I also recognize that this connection between a work of art and a person could be happening inside the shop in a quiet, subtle way - in ways that I do not witness, that I do not know about. It’s an honor to be at The Meadows, to have created a space where this connection, through the void, can happen.
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With all that being said, we are rolling out a few new programs to ensure that The Meadows can continue to foster these connections.
First, is our Art for All Program. For folks who would love a piece of art but can’t afford it / afford to pay for it all at once we’ve got a Legacy Gift Registry option and a new Interest Free Layaway Payment Plan.
Second, is our Meadows Sponsorship Program. Aimed towards folks who would like to support what we are doing here but do not need / want a new piece of art in their life. There is the Workshop Sponsorship Program, Fund a Community Mural Program, and a Purchase then Donate Program. All details can be found here.
If you’d like to jump straight to the online shop, click here!
