County artist donates painting for environmental education

Prince Edward County artist Aidan Haley has donated a painting he used for environmental education to the Lower Trent Conservation and the Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan. His passion for nature is reflected in his paintings.

“In my paintings I am trying to acquaint the viewer with the beauty of the natural world, especially Canada,” said Haley. “To paint the beauty of the forest and streams as a legacy, a place worth conserving where one can be spiritually refreshed and renewed. I want people to say I really want to go there.”

Aiden Haley

He created a painting to educate people about the environmental issues facing the planet. He talked to schools, church groups and others about how their actions affect the earth and what they could do to help remedy some of the issues.

“My greatest joy is when someone who only looked at nature begins to see what nature really is, in all its intricacies and beauty, and how it can affect us. My goal as an artist is to create paintings so that the viewer gains an appreciation for the landscape and begins to look for themselves and see the trees rather than the forest.”

Haley generously donated this painting to Lower Trent Conservation and the Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan (BQRAP) to use as a teaching tool in environmental education programs.

The painting is in two sections – its outside depicts the Milky Way galaxy and earth’s solar system. The inside centre panel shows earth as the “Blue Planet” with the protecting ozone layer surrounding it, which has brown cracks representing the holes in the ozone layer. The two identically composed landscapes at either end of the painting, illustrate the before and after effects of global warming.

Depending on whether you’re a pessimist or an optimist, the “after” landscape has small spots of green either representing the last remnants of life or the beginning of life’s rebirth. The choice is yours to make.

“This painting provides a wonderful visual teaching tool to engage students about how their actions influence the world around them,” said Sarah Midlane-Jones, of BQRAP. “If people would like to see the painting, it is on display at the Lower Trent Conservation office.”