In 2016 I joined a group of garden volunteers at the Bloedel Reserve here on Bainbridge Island. I watered plant starts in their greenhouses, weeded trails, cut back old fern fronds to make way for the coming spring growth, and planted perennials on the 160-acre site. That experience was rewarding and then, after a couple of years, an opportunity came along- Cathy Tyler welcomed me to her flower-arranging crew that weekly created flower arrangements for the Bloedel residence and Gatehouse. This too was a volunteer position and lasted for over three years until March of 2020, when the Covid pandemic brought all volunteering to a close.
In September of 2022 I applied for a position as a 2023 Community Creative at Bloedel and was one of four artists accepted. Since then, with dawn to dusk access to the garden, I have wandered familiar paths and trails, stopped to sketch and observe the abundant plant life, and photograph the ever-changing cycles of nature.
At home in my studio I have enthusiastically been creating a visual record of my ongoing love of nature and awakening to a reciprocity from nature that I had overlooked--nature loves me.
It has been my privilege, over these past months, to communicate through my paintings the myriad ways nature offers "signs of welcome", safety and well-being.
In June I gave a three part series of art-making workshops for the public at the Reserve and will return in September for a second, three-part series of workshops. Click here: bloedelreserve.org for more information
In September of 2022 I applied for a position as a 2023 Community Creative at Bloedel and was one of four artists accepted. Since then, with dawn to dusk access to the garden, I have wandered familiar paths and trails, stopped to sketch and observe the abundant plant life, and photograph the ever-changing cycles of nature.
At home in my studio I have enthusiastically been creating a visual record of my ongoing love of nature and awakening to a reciprocity from nature that I had overlooked--nature loves me.
It has been my privilege, over these past months, to communicate through my paintings the myriad ways nature offers "signs of welcome", safety and well-being.
In June I gave a three part series of art-making workshops for the public at the Reserve and will return in September for a second, three-part series of workshops. Click here: bloedelreserve.org for more information
