A nonprofit art organization promoting art, artists, and land conservation.

With the ARTservancy program, I will explore the Huiras Lake Natural Area and create intentionally inspired works in response to the location’s unique qualities and conservation efforts. 

My compositions are a call and response between states of disruption and integration. I layer and detach from previous studio sessions to create a mindful aesthetic that reflects our impermanence. My imagery develops through intuitive actions and interpretations of observations drawn from daily life. I use compositions as a way to mark time and create symbolic calendars. I structure compositions on bilateral order and relieved symmetry as these connect to embodiment and nature. My works become visual prayers that hold my concern. The process is an act of meditation, and the result is an accumulation of mark, memory, and symbolism.

I'm very interested in painting from observation outdoors as a professional studio and plein air artist, and educator. My plein air work and some of my recent methods in the studio have become rooted in connecting with a subject by revisiting the location more than once. I can only imagine how meaningful paintings can become if you're spending a year with a specific place. I've been experimenting recently with building props to stage outdoors for my paintings and could see that process continuing into the residency. I would be interested in exploring how the handmade props I bring to the land sparks and responds to a conversation with objects, forms, light, and the community in place.

Bratt Woods is very much like small woods where I grew up in Western Pennsylvania. Its colors, plants, sounds and animal life have formed indelible memories that I appreciate today and influence my work.  

As an adult I appreciate the opportunities for solitude, exploration and reflection these places offer. 

As an abstract painter, I use the colors, lines, textures and shapes around me in my paintings in order to convey my ideas. 

For the ARTservancy I propose to integrate specific representational images from Bratt Woods into my abstract work. The flowering plants, berries, birches, funghi, herons and egrets among many others provide a rich source of images that will exist in a visual environment of abstract shapes, lines, textures and colors. 

My own small woods has disappeared, replaced by development. Thus, I want my work to draw attention not only to the to the natural beauty of Bratt Woods, but also to the importance of preserving places like it. Places like Bratt Woods create a refuge from an otherwise busy and noisy world, and open the door to an entire other world to explore wildlife, plant life  and ourselves.

I plan to begin my work by sketching, taking photographs and making notes in the woods in preparation for the final artwork. The medium will likely be painting or painting in combination with drawing.

My work is about our human connection with nature. My prints and paintings reduce down shapes to create a moment or memory where where matter becomes spirit. Observation and reflection of natural environments are part of my practice, so Artservancy is a natural fit.

Water and ground in their extreme.

The junction of nature and humankind has been a focus of my work.  I would cherish a year’s time on the Milwaukee River Greenway, especially along the Beerline Trail and the environment south with focus on the natural parts that collide with the man made.  It’s has been my interest to see how the Natural world of trees, plants, and wildlife have adapted and allowed us to see better ways to coexist and flourish as I have lived along the Milwaukee River for the past 4 years.  The Native American idea of “Nature is good medicine” is evidenced every day.  To the degree that the humble skills can help tell the story of the landscape - which is not what only the eye can see and hear, but also feel - I would love a chance to be that storyteller.  This would be accomplished through art created on the site, in the studio, and through sound recordings and musical response to those stimuli.  As the only American artist in a collaborative of English and Irish artists, work has centered around landscapes and the stories they tell.  I would welcome any opportunities to share through a demonstration of my media of encaustic, I would be be delighted to share.

I look forward to the work and discussing all that comes to fruition as a part of this residency along a body of water that I have loved my whole life.

I was born on a river and spent my childhood amongst the trees and grasses, building forts, playing with frogs, fishing and picking wildflowers. My town also had a paper mill that employed a significant part of the town. My memories of life are all centered around a wild river landscape, butterflies, birds and wild creatures of all types. 

In looking at the flora and fauna of the Milwaukee River I hope to activate the childhood memories of the river and create works that celebrate and contemplate an urban river and its role in community imagination and learning. 

The art project I plan to complete is connected to savannah and observation of the life in Turtle Park and the river. I plan to complete drawings and botanical research, landscape and water imagery, fauna such as the garter and brown dekay snakes. As I explore the potential of river centered art I will also look at invasive species, and rebuilding indigenous species in an urban natural area. 

The media selected will evolve with my experience at Turtle Park and include photography, printmaking drawing, papermaking and book arts. If there is potential to work with samples of plants in the papermaking process, I will use handmade paper. 

Land Affection

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Wendell Berry, speaking about our connection and obligation to the land in a 2012 lecture, said that "the primary motive for good care and good use [of the land] is always going to be affection, because affection involves us entirely."

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As a photo-imaging artist, I have contemplated and debated extensively my relationship with materials that I use in my work.  I can break down the key material elements as metals, minerals, cellulose, water, and light.  Humans have been making images with various combinations of these elements for a long time. Plants have been doing i much longer. There's no evidence of making ephemeral photograms on plants, not knowing how photosynthesis works but figured out how to make images with it?

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For my yearlong residency at East Bank Trail with the River Revitalization Foundation, I wish to observe and respond, and with reverence, make work using vegetation as subjects and objects, in stages of dormant, decay, or prime. I would like to make paper out of variety of material from each season. The paper will be used make photo-images in cyanotype, anthotype, gum bichromate, and other relevant processes.  Using what the land provides to make art will be my act of affection, my appreciation for the care and gifts of nature.

You cannot step into the same river twice...for other waters are continually flowing on.

-Heraclitus, b 544BC

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To look at a river is to reflect upon movement, distance and the layering of human histories. The Milwaukee River, formed by glaciers 12,000 years ago, sustained native people, flora and fauna for thousands of years.  the flows of the river became a conduit for trade and vital to Milwaukee's booming industries.  We see now evidence of careless overuse of resources, as well as a renewed appreciation of it's value.

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In 2021 we began photographing the river, rich with its histories. Analog film techniques allowed us to make overlapping exposures with unpredictable intervals and wavering focus.  During our ARTservancy Residency at Felling Woods, we plan to continue the narrative we have begun, evoking the ebb and flow of human mediation over time on the land.

My research examines systems and resources, especially regarding labor and landscape interventions that describe a human effort to exert control, albeit in a transitory or futile manner. The persistence of green space, especially in the midst of highly developed urban areas, intrigues me as I consider this essential collaboration between conservationists and the plants and animals themselves. The interconnectedness of systems provides inspiration for my work, and I often allow natural processes to guide the outcome of my projects. 

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As a resident of Milwaukee County, I appreciate the work done by Milwaukee Area Land Conservancy and am especially interested in pursuing research into Sidney Woodlands Preserve, a triangle of woodlands surrounded by infrastructure, industry, and neighborhoods.

As an artist passionate about birds, a creative collaboration with a bird & bat observatory would be a dream come true. Though birds frequently feature in my current work, immersing myself in a specific locale offers fresh perspectives and uncharted avian behaviors. As a former scientist, I understand the intricate relationships among all living things on Earth and aim to introduce the public to these concepts in imaginative and compelling ways. While species of birds and bats indigenous to a specific park will be the common thread in my body of work from this experience, I aspire to delve into the intricate relationships between these creatures, other animals, local flora, and human interactions. Such detailed observation not only ignites my passion but also challenges my usual approach, as many pieces typically center on a singular subject. Beyond personal development, the residency promises community engagement, enabling me to share and magnify my passions. Ultimately, this journey isn't solely about art—it's a deeper exploration and bond with the natural world.

I am honored to have been granted an ARTservancy in Estabrook Park. My profound thanks to all who have worked to create and preserve our park system through the years. To think that this beehive of park activity was once a cement factory! Yes, some things have improved over time!

This expanse of natural wonders is virtually on my doorstep and I have grown to love the quirky, quiet parts as well as the bustling paths and playgrounds that are here. A person can come here to play or fish or party—or to find a quiet place to meditate.

My plan for the Artservancy residency is to start with a sense of adventure & tune into the energy of the rocks & trees of Tall Pines Conservancy & see what emerges. That could be through several different ongoing practices - one is finding “root snake” sticks, carving & painting them to become ritual objects. Another is finding fabrics at thrift stores in a specific place & making a quilt related to the place with only those fabrics. It could also be something completely new, but I won’t know until a develop a relationship with the place.