The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
DISCOVER MAGICAL PARADISE
Fairy Doors exhibit at Holden Arboretum runs through Aug. 27
To watch an iridescent dragonfly flutter among plants, alighting with transparent wings to rest briefly on a large leaf inspires a sure belief in fairies. It’s easy to see it as a cousin, at least, to the less visible fairies that live in the woodland forests and gardens to help the flora and fauna.
With help from commissioned artists, Holden Arboretum is using the fairy world to foster an appreciation of the magic in its 30,000-acre paradise headquartered in Kirtland, spanning boundaries of Lake and Geauga
counties. Children, especially, but anyone with a fantasy turn of mind will be captivated by Fairy Doors, an exhibit opening July 23 through Aug. 27. The tiny handcrafted doors are tucked away on mossy glades, next to tree stumps, on footbridges and elsewhere throughout the Arboretum. They’re often low to the ground, perfect for spotting by 4-year-olds.
Each of the 30 fairy doors is in or near a shady spot with a bench or log for grownups to rest.
The Arboretum’s Jillian Slane, creative force behind Fairy Doors, took me on a preview visit of the exhibition, following a map to be available to visitors at the entry Gatehouse. Slane is the director of exhibits and experiences.
Stooping low to follow her beneath the low drooping branches of a weeping beech in the Display Garden leads to a shady 12-foot square space developed by Fairy Doors sponsor, Cleveland Clinic Children’s hospital. Sheltered securely beneath the branches, it’s the ideal headquarters for fairies to oversee the arboretum’s lush diversity of plants.
Next came a visit to Fordham’s Island near the edge of Corning Lake. “Until a few years ago when a bridge was built, this was accessible only by boat,” she said. “Not many visitors know about it.”
The wild, small island proved the ideal canvas for Columbus-based artist Erin Canales who has installed six fairy doors around it. She brought her two children with her when she came to the arboretum and they helped her establish a fairy community called Fordhamon-the-Lake.
The fairies living here help care for the island’s creatures which include birds, turtles and fish, entering and leaving by Fairy Doors which replicate snails, turtles and a rabbit. The rabbit’s ears are pointed together above his head so he can pass through the door without bumping them.
Canales, who is trained in horticulture, also takes her inspiration from nature in her silversmithing and watercolors. She’s installed fairy doors throughout her suburban Columbus neighborhood.
Artist Tracey Gardner of Chagrin Falls has Holden Grove as her venue. The newest of Holden Arboretum’s gardens, it has views of Corning Lake, a grove of sargent cherries, Whitespire grey birch and seven-son flower as the backdrop for Mother Oakenheart and her four fairy children.
Near Blueberry Pond, where dragonflies zip around, are the four Fairy Doors in the Four Corners garden crafted by artist Amanda Nyx. The fairies living here — Earth, Wind, Water and Fire — love to splash, fly and tell stories beneath the plants, including the nearby Amur Maple trees. The trail here leads to Buckeye Bud’s Adventure Woods play area where kids can romp and play as they discover another fairy community.
Beth Lynne Gregerson, who has a studio in Fairport Harbor, has created six doors for the Fairies of Holden Harbor and their community in the arboretum’s Butterfly Garden. They’ve taken on the protection of all the visiting pollinators and share their village with other important fairy cousins including bees, butterflies, dragonflies and ladybugs.
Other artists and their fairy doors include Bette and Robb Durr; Jane Baeslach and Coletta Baeslach Arian; and Tammy Shella.
Those who wish may download an app that al- lows them to learn about the plants near each Fairy Door and stories about the fairies living there.