May 30, 2026 | Current & Upcoming Events, Water, Writing and Publications
Read my essay about Meditations of Geometries of Water: Summer Lake in ARTerrain.
The interplay of irregular, natural shapes and regular, human-imposed geometries reveals our values, desires, and priorities as expressed in how we manipulate the land. Water, left to its own devices, creates ever-changing curving shapes and forms. While humans, in order to maximize efficiency, create straight dikes and canals as well as the perfect circles you see in center-pivot irrigation…
Read More
Jan 25, 2026 | Events, Speaking
THE RESER PRESENTS
ARTIST TALK: THE BEAUTY OF STRUCTURE
Date February 21, 2026 1:00pm
Artist talk with Leah Wilson & Sally Finch | Saturday, February 21 | 1:00 – 2:30 pm | Free with a reserved ticket.
Read More
Jan 25, 2026 | Events, Exhibitions
The Art of Ecology: Rhythms of Timbre February 6, 2026 – March 14, 2026 at the Reser. Rhythms of Timbre by Leah Wilson and Sally Finch. Each artist observes, records, and responds to the living systems that surround us. In their work, observation, research, and reflection intertwine, data transforms into emotion, and art becomes a language through which we can understand our changing world.
Read More
Aug 1, 2025 | Current & Upcoming Events, Events, Listening to the Forest, Studio Notebook
Listening to the Forest is on the map! Oregon Arts Commission and Travel Oregon have launched 50 for 50, a campaign to showcase 50 public artworks from all regions of Oregon created over the past 50 years of Oregon’s Percent for Art in Public Places program and mine is included. Woohoo! Come tour public art in Oregon and stop by Oregon State University to visit Listening to the Forest.
Read More
Jul 31, 2025 | Creative Process, Field Notebook, On the Other Side of Grief, Studio Notebook, Work in Progress
I started three new paintings. One is another small Ode to the Eddy Muffin painting, the other two are for my new series with the working title of On the Other Side of Grief. The 2023 fire that burned over 2/3 of the HJ Andrews Forest, a place where I have been delving into with my art since 2012, was devastating for scientists, artists, and the ecosystem. Every person who has engaged with the place in any meaningful way experienced grief and we are all finding our ways through it. I have invited some of the Andrews Forest community who I have gotten to know through the years to take me to...
Read More
Jul 20, 2025 | Beauty, Creative Process, Klamath River Project Introduction, Patterns, Rivers
In July I finally finished these two little eddy muffin paintings. I had started them last fall but they were put on pause while I focused my attention on the marathon predawn painting sessions of Bloom to meet the deadline. These paintings, the fourth and fifth pieces of art in the Ode to the Eddy Muffin series, but the first two paintings, were made to look slowly and deeply at a particularly gross eddy on the Klamath River in Keno, Oregon and its ubiquitous thick foam. One of the things that fascinates me is that I can start with something that repulsive, but the more deeply I look at it,...
Read More
Jul 13, 2025 | Art & Science, Field Notebook
Standing on the rim of the caldera on Paulina Peak with volcanologist Daniele McKay, I attempted to orient myself from what I knew about the volcano after spending hours peering at a Lidar map and making my painting Bloom while she poured out fascinating information about the volcano.
Read More
Jul 1, 2025 | Color, Klamath River Project Introduction, Pigments, Studio Notebook
Have I mentioned I recently started making my paints? It’s a slow meditative process, and I am developing a sensitivity to the personality of each pigment and learning their fascinating histories. Especially after writing what I did above about the powerful combination of learning information and experiential knowledge at Newberry Volcano, essentially the way I move through life whenever possible, I am flabbergasted that it has taken me this long to make my paint. Now that I have started, I don’t want to use manufactured paint anymore. It’s all so homogenous and lacking personality. Blues...
Read More
Jun 29, 2025 | Events, Speaking
Stelo Portland’s Park Blocks 412 NW 8th Avenue, Portland, Oregon Panel Discussion Saturday, July 12 @ 2:30 – 4:30 PM Oregon Origins Project in partnership with Stelo presents an epic new musical work and art exhibition depicting the dramatic events of Oregon’s geologic history. Join us for a panel discussion. This conversation will include Leah Wilson, Christine Bourdette, Ian Madin, and Matthew Packwood about our artistic exploration of the state’s geologic origin stories, including Columbia River basalt flows, Basin and Range earthquakes, Cascade volcanoes, Missoula floods, and...
Read More
Jun 21, 2025 | On the Other Side of Grief, Work in Progress
Last year I recorded an episode for the Spring Creek Project’s podcast “Luminaries” about my relationship with fire and water in response to Bill Viola’s installation “The Crossing” which I saw about 30 years ago. My issues with fire stretch way back before that to my childhood in Southern California. I am not a fan of fire and have mostly ignored it with my art. Note that my project for Wildfire + Water is more like Water + Water. I can’t ignore fire any longer. Now I am embarking on a new project directly relate to wildfire. The HJ Andrews Experimental Forest has been impacted by three...
Read More
Jun 17, 2025 | Color, Light, Sunrise, Time
I took the first sunrise photo in December 2020. Why do I keep doing this? Because it is a simple act that gives me so much in return. Every morning I connect to what is happening on this planet where I am.
Read More
Jun 16, 2025 | Color, Workshops
Come explore color with me! Dive into the vibrant world of color in Exploring Coloring, an engaging workshop designed for adult artists. This 5-day evening class invites participants to investigate how colors interact, behave, and affect one another through both intuitive and practical exercises.
Read More
Apr 22, 2025 | Events, Exhibitions
The Arts Center is thrilled to exhibit the exceptional work created during the inaugural Wildfire + Water residency at PLAYA in Summer Lake, OR. This timely exhibition explores environmental, spiritual and socio-political issues not only affecting the Chewaucan region, but the entire world.
Read More
Apr 22, 2025 | Events, Exhibitions
Oregon Origins VI The Birth of Cascadia The Reser Center 12625 SW Crescent Street, Beaverton, Oregon Performances June 21, 2025 @ 7:30 PM June 22, 2025 @ 2:00 PM Oregon Origins Project in partnership with Stelo presents an epic new musical work and art exhibition depicting the dramatic events of Oregon’s geologic history. Join us for an artistic exploration of the state’s geologic origin stories, including Columbia River basalt flows, Basin and Range earthquakes, Cascade volcanoes, Missoula floods, and much more. Reserve Your Tickets Oregon Origins VI The Birth of Cascadia Stelo 412 NW 8th...
Read More
Mar 14, 2024 | Environmentalism, Musings on Art, Speaking
I gravitate toward water. I spent a considerable amount of time as a river guide and instructor. much of my life has been shaped by water. I run from fire. It has also shaped my life. Fire is my shadow. The Spring Creek Project invited me to record a podcast episode for their series “Luminaries” produced by the Spring Creek Project at Oregon State University. This series invites people to share stories about writing and art that illuminates their environmental thinking or work. I responded to Bill Viola’s video installation “The Crossing” in which he blended fire and water...
Read More
