Becoming My Own Tree
​                              Len Eisenhood

Pollinator Meadow/Bloedel Reserve 26 x 20"

                                         

     Welcome to Becoming My Own Tree. I began paper marbling with  kindergarten students at the Bertschi School in 1982.I wanted to explore this ancient art in depth, so I purchased more marbling equipment, acquired books on the history of marbling, and invited a colleague to join me. My experimenting began and would last over the next 40-plus years. Initially I used my marbled papers in bookmaking projects, as collaged images of fruit and vegetables, animals, desserts and portraits. The possibilities grew, but still I wondered how else I might work with this medium.
    In 2016 I drove from Seattle to Portland to attend a workshop offered by Liz Walker, a paper marbler and painter. She presented an option that I had never considered-developing my own imagery using  marbled paper as the canvas. The marbled design of each paper would link my inner landscape with Nature's. How might marbled designs suggest forests, winter skies, flower gardens, storms or fields of poppies?

    This artistic journey which began nearly nine years ago, is far from over. I have had the good fortune of spending a full year in 2023 as a Community Creative at the Bloedel Reserve where I led groups through sensory walks, group discussion, poetry, marbling and painting to engage nature in conversation.
 
    I hope that as you view Becoming My Own Tree pages you will discover, in my artwork, images that enliven your connection to nature and invite you to reflect on the beauty and inherent wisdom of our natural world.
      Use the menu bar, at the top left corner of each page, to open and view my art. Thank you.

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