Jul 31, 2021 | Environmentalism, Field Notebook, Stories Told by Water, Water, Work in Progress
This place is defined by water.
I came to Pine Meadow Ranch to listen to stories of the creek on this ranch in Sisters, Oregon. The ranch is idyllic with its unobstructed views of the mountains and Whychus Creek, its milky glacial melt waters originating from Broken Top and all Three Sisters, running through the ranch.
Little, if any land on the ranch is untouched. It is a fully constructed landscape dating back to the 1800s when settlers cleared fields for cattle and began diverting streams to irrigate their ranches. Some of the coveted water rights for this ranch date back to 1895, superseding the water rights of Three Sisters Irrigation District (TSID).
Read More
Mar 1, 2021 | Drawing, Stories Told by Water, Studio Notebook, Work in Progress
I wanted to make something fast. I see other artists producing so much work in such a short period of time. I want to do that too. Drawing, I thought, would be fast. How great would it be if I could have 30 new drawings in a month!
But the truth is, I’m slow. I am very slow. Honestly, I wouldn’t be satisfied any other way.
Read More
Feb 1, 2021 | Creative Process, Light, Stories Told by Water, Work in Progress
The creative process often feels dark and murky. Sometimes shining a light on it makes it worse. There is no past. There is no future. There is only this one line being drawn right now. Only the present exists.
Read More
Jan 25, 2021 | Creative Process, Stories Told by Water, Work in Progress
The creative process spirals. It is not a neat, straight trajectory that marches forward into the future. Concepts, materials, and techniques can be pulled from far in the past and spiraled into a new body of work.
Read More
Jun 25, 2020 | Creative Process, Listening to the Forest, Studio Notebook, Work in Progress
A look up close. Red Alder – Top of Crown (Air Temperature), Acrylic and Resin on Wood, 2020, 46 in. x 62 in., Panel 1 of 16 Listening to the Forest – Leah Wilson Listening to the Forest A Story of a Relationship with a Place Listening to the Forest is not about wood anatomy, or data, or science. Although what you will see is wood anatomy and lines drawn from data, it is not the basis of my work, or what compels me to persevere through all of the setbacks and frustrations that come along with making a public art project. The foundation, and the impetus to continue, lie in...
Read More
Mar 6, 2017 | Gray Space, Work in Progress
Gray Space I’m involved with a new collaborative project entitled Gray Space. Gray Space is a collaborative endeavor that explores the idea of site/context. Eight artists will separately install and document the placement of a micro/mobile-gallery called Gray Space in site-specific and potentially unsuspecting or unknown locations throughout the Pacific Northwest. Each of the participating artists will select a location for Gray Space and will install a contextually specific work of art inside. Gray Space will activate public space and point to context as being inherent to the idea of...
Read More
Jan 15, 2017 | Studio Notebook, Work in Progress
A forest can feel like a place of great stillness and quiet. But if you dig a little deeper, there’s a hidden world beneath your feet as busy and complicated as a city at rush hour.
Read More
May 2, 2016 | HJ Andrews Project, Solstices/Equinoxes, Studio Notebook, Work in Progress
Empathy Responses to the essay Poetry-Science Gratitude Duet by Alison Hawthorne Deming and Frederick J. Swanson Empathy Part 5: Responses to the essay Poetry-Science Gratitude Duet by Alison Hawthorne Deming and Frederick J. Swanson Sitting at Watershed 2 Sit in the forest for a day with no agenda. Swim naked in the creek. Sleep under the stars. The only thing that is required is that you pay attention. Take yourself out of your head: It might take a few days. Stay. Speak little, or not at all. Stay until you feel at ease with the silence. Stay until you hear the rustle of something small...
Read More
Mar 21, 2016 | Creative Process, Musings on Art, Solstices/Equinoxes, Work in Progress
Silence “He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.” Elbert Hubbard Silence has been on my mind lately, especially when I am in my studio painting. Without silence there is no music, no prose, no composition. It is only through silence and emptiness that form can emerge. Recently I went to the symphony and I paid careful attention to the silences. They are between the notes, they separate the movements, and they mark the end of a piece. The silence that occurs between the last note, and the first cough and shuffle from the...
Read More
