Demeter in the Meadow

Demeter walking in the meadow? – did it happen?

I don’t know. But it’s likely. In Greek mythology, she was the goddess of the fertility of the earth, of the harvest, of cultivated land, of grain, of agriculture. Demeter was depicted as a serious woman with a wreath of ears on her head. In her hand, she held a sickle, a torch or a basket of fruit. Thus she was associated with the gifts that the arable land gives us. The meadow is not arable land, but it is an essential part of the rural landscape. 

Freedom in the Meadow

A meadow is a place of freedom. Here plants can grow freely and diversely. Nature is the sower. In her generosity, she is able to sow many plant species in a small patch of meadow. The result is a green thicket full of weed. We cannot name all these plants, weeds – as we often call them. Many of them we don’t want on our manicured beds or evenly trimmed lawns. 

Being in a meadow

I’m sure the goddess Demeter strolled through the meadow. She must have been resting among its lush greenery from her duties of inspecting the crops of the farmland. She must have put down her attributes: sickle, torch and basket, sat or lay down in the herbage and observed the inhabitants of the meadow. Animals and birds feel safe here. The dense thickets make it possible to hide. Does it? A careful observer will see them anyway. The black spot visible between the blades of grass could be the eye of a bird or a hare. The colourful moving spots – these are butterflies – are inseparable companions of the flowers. It would be fun to accompany Demeter in her rest in the meadow. Unfortunately, what remains of her are myths and images in stone. 

Demeter – as a symbol

The sculptures depicting Demeter are beautiful. They are portraits of a sensitive woman with a soulful expression. For me, she is a symbol of the close relationship between man and nature. That is why she appears in my painting. I would like to dedicate my paintings to her as an attempt to express my fascination with nature. I chose an inconspicuous piece – a meadow. A place where nature, not man, rules. Here you can forget yourself for a moment, sit back and observe with what care and invention nature has created the smallest of plants. Then you can feel gifted.