Meredith Nemirov
- Colorado, US and Spain
- @meredith.nemirov
- This artist has published articles on the MAHB Arts page.
I was thrilled to find the Think Resilience course because it discusses the issues we face regarding the climate crisis and what brought us to this point in a very clear way. Participating in the online What’s Next For Earth exhibitions has pushed my work as an artist toward new directions and new ways of thinking about our natural world. As I explore new themes for my work, I find the information I learned from the course pushing me to better understand the relationships between my local environment and the larger issues facing our global community.
River Earths
watercolor gouache
historic topo map on handmade paper
4" x 6"
- Meredith Nemirov
The Old Juniper Tree
On-site watercolor painting
For this last post of 2022 on #whatsnextforearth I wanted to pick an image of resilience. The Thinking Resilience course has added depth and created a new resonance with which to think about the resiliency we will need in our communities in the next few years and beyond. Even though the Utah Juniper tree can survive extreme heat with very little water and live for hundreds of years, there are times when the climate is different and the tree must adapt to these new conditions. In very dry years they sacrifice branches to conserve moisture. When stressed by wind or inhospitable topsoil they twist and bend as they grow.
Piñon-Juniper forests have long been important to local communities for fuel wood, fence posts, pinenuts, forage for livestock and watershed protection. More recently, communities and businesses have begun to turn to these forests as a source for fuel and energy.
These trees also provide habitat for many of of Colorado's rarest plants, along with the Gray Vireo, one of the state's rarest birds.
From lesson 15: Six Foundations For Building Community Resilience: 'A community that adapts to change is resilient because communities and the challenges we face are dynamic and adaptation is an ongoing process."
-Richard Heinberg
- Meredith Nemirov
Voice of a River
Group of five pieces
- The on-site watercolors of the river (5” x 8”) are in a black-bound book from my last series RIvers Feed The Trees, an exploration of rivers, topography, and the color blue.
- Two pieces (12” x 16”) are made with fragments of maps.
Natural rivers have a high level of resiliency. They create buffers as they wend their way downstream and across valleys and create new channels that contribute to the overall health of all beings living on the land through which they flow. We can use this as a guide, or a metaphor, for how our communities can adapt and support this natural process of resiliency.
By juxtaposing my on-site watercolor studies of the spring runoff with fragmented rivers from human-created maps of the land, I hope that one thinks about our negative impact on rivers and watersheds as well as the vital role our communities can play in wetland restoration.
This work restores the resiliency of a river and creates a trickle-down effect in nearly every aspect of the life of communities around the world. Meredith Nemirov is an artist living and painting in the Uncompahgre River Valley in southwest Colorado.
- Meredith Nemirov
Rivers Feed the Trees #455
Acrylagouache on historic topo map
17" x 13.5"
2022
- Meredith Nemirov
When Water Slips Through Roots
13.5" x 17"
This line is from a poem titled Anvil by Arthur Sze "when water slips through roots, rises through a trunk, streams into trees".
I am always fulfilled and excited to look at the way the natural world works to sustain its life and nourishing presence on this earth. There is a lot to learn about the economy of consumption.
The sleek interdependence which sustains trees, plants and other forms of wildlife on earth would be a good model as we go forward and try to reduce our habits of excessive consumerism.
Not only is the process of survival or existence in the natural world vital but the result is also incredibly beautiful and sensual, attributes all humans appreciate and can enjoy in ways other than the aquisition of more material goods.
- Meredith Nemirov
LEGEND/RELIEF
A new series of collages, paper on wood panel
5" x 7"
- Meredith Nemirov
Rivers Feed The Trees #479
Acryla Gouache on historic topo map 13.5" x 17" x 1.5"
- Meredith Nemirov