Janet Lovell-Simons
Artist | Professional | Varied

Canada

Lovelljan,

Janet Lovell-Simons, nee de Haan
is native to Manitoba
and upon this land

she grew deep roots
beneath the dirt
as she stood and walked
upon the earth

barefoot

more often than not
as she grew up
beside a beach,
a woodland, a gravel pit,
a floodway

all served to reach

deep within her heart, her mind,
her body and her soul
through its natural rhythms,
beauty, seasons, light,
wildlife and more…

to spin and weave,
synchronize, right
to this very day
its peace and joy,
rejuvenating life
and boundless energy,

This may be found
and reflected
within her own
photography,
also art and other works
this is one way,
you see,

she tries quite hard
to play her part
to give back
to the earth
that which was given
each day, like a gift then
as she explored
barefoot upon dirt.

Appreciation began
she remembers
as young as two or three
when behind
her country house
she fell asleep
under a warm sun
and gentle breeze

then later on
as she was given
freedom
for endless
explorations

within the woodlands
pits, floodway
and the beach
with only a few
stipulations…

Come home for lunch
Come home for supper

and then,
from her father,

Be wise in your choices
Stay away from the boys, and
Be home before dark

So, surrounding her home
she did roam
for hours upon hours
so much so
that her energy
could get low,
then feeling tired

she lay beneath
the woodland trees
looked up to watch
the clouds and leaves
dance and play
at making patterns

with light and shade
and as they played
a song dipped and lifted
her spirit

Before this scene so serene
she was lulled into a slumber

so deep that
not even ants
who tickled as they travelled
could fully wake her

as once she learned
they rarely hurt
or even tried to bite her
she slept on
as they crept upon
she felt they were no bother

Then when she stirred
and found about her
this natural peaceful setting

she felt quite refreshed
and thought for a moment
whether she should go home,
or continue her exploring.

These were times of meditation
study, and imagination
she feels blessed by her parents,
both,

for allowing her this freedom
to learn directly from within,
or from them
and the earth,

to learn to take joy,
to play and explore
and become creative

to stand up for yourself
listen to that small still voice
to follow your heart
and what you believed in,

to share, and give back
be kind, don’t give up
be happy with what
you’ve got.

That the best in life is free
and to be happy
doesn’t take a lot.

And so she shares
so that others might care,
to walk softly
upon the earth.

Hoping this will enable
the earth to be able
to forever share
of its invaluable
worth.


*****************************************************************************************

From the moment I could walk, barefoot, more often than not, a connection and love of nature grew year after year and through all seasons as I explored the woods surrounding our home in the country.

In recent years, this love has grown to concern over the health of our planet and in turn, to the future of our children. The seed of this consciousness began in the 60's with the slogan, "Don't be a litter-bug", which was followed by jaunty yellow orbs (with a litter bug painted on them) where one may dispose of their trash. Within magazines, pictures of children and their mothers who lived on the other side of the world were shown wearing gas masks because of the poor air quality from pollution. This inevitably made a great impact on my young mind.

So it is not a wonder that when I became an adult that I joined Green Peace, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Manitoba Fort Whyte Nature Center, an Organic Food Cooperative, and subscribed to Organic Gardening and Mother Earth News magazines. Further down the road, I wrote an interactive story with the intention of stirring the minds of school children into that same environmental awareness that I first experienced as a child. Along with this came an A to Z guide with suggestions on how we may individually make a difference by our actions and the choices we make.

Approximately 20 years ago prior to an election in Canada, the political leaders of that time inquired of the public through a mail survey what our top concerns were. They gave a list with boxes beside each item where we could place a number to show our highest to lowest priority. I will note here, as I did then, their omission and my addition of a concern for the environment because without a healthy planet, we cannot have a healthy economy as we need (at the very least) the sustainability of the planet in order to survive and produce that robust economy. Over the years I have written several letters to the government and local newspapers on various environmental and other concerns.

Times have been tough lately and I can certainly relate to the putting of the economy at the top of the list, however, I think it should come hand in hand with a regard to the environment. I believe that it is because of our negligence in the proper custodianship of the earth that we are now heavy contributors to the accelerated extinctions and more frequently experienced climatic imbalances.

On the positive side, it is heartening that so many individuals are becoming aware and wanting to do their part, myself included. Personally while trying to overcome an economic drought of the last decade due to a natural disaster and corporate downsizing which affected my husband and thus our family, I have over this period applied myself to gaining skills with digital tools and camera to produce works that I hope will serve both my personal and worldly concerns.

As written before, in so many words… we are each like a droplet of water; our part may seem small, but if we put our hearts and minds together, we can gain hope and take action to create a puddle, a stream, and a river of ideas that can flow into an ocean of possibilities to push forward a positive future for all.

May it be so!

For my own part, the door to environmental memberships that I used to hold have had to be closed because of economic constraints. However, I am endeavoring to open new connections by offering my nature photographs as limited edition prints. The plan is evolving to raise a goal of one million dollars to go to the management, protection and preservation of wildlife and its natural habitat. If you are interested in learning more, you can check periodically at [link] . At present, I haven't completely finished all the details, and again, it may continue to evolve to better be successful. I'm thinking that perhaps there may be some deviantArtists who may wish to collaberate...

Current Residence: CANADA
Favourite genre of music: Instrumental, Exceptional Voice/Story Telling
Operating System: Windows XP
Favourite cartoon character: Bugs Bunny

www.lovellsimonsprints.webs.com http://www.fairygoogmother.blogspot.com http://www.fairygoodmother.webs.com http://www.lovellsimonsimaging.com