Bartram the Land Scout

I read an article recently about American botanist John Bartram. Accompanying the article was this great drawing of Bartram by Howard Pyle an illustrator considered to be the father of The Golden Age of American Illustration. There's an excellent group of Pyle paintings on exhibit at the Baer Gallery right now. If you live in or near NE Wisconsin, the show will be up through the end of this week.

After it the Pyle show comes down I'll help install Land Scout illustrations in that same gallery. It feels sweet and serendipitous to find this image in common.

Production

Over the winter break I enjoyed getting into the studio more to work on things for the upcoming show. Among the things were seed balls. I will recreate the trade-installation I showed at Pellissippi last fall. These seedballs will carry a variety of midwestern wildflowers as selected by American Meadows. It is rare (for me) to get to the point where the decisions are made and all that remains is to make the things. Rare and pleasurable in its straightfowardness. I hope to have 200 + seedballs to fill two low pedestals in the gallery. While on the subject of production: a shoutout and thanks to my one-time assistant and all-time ceramicist Amy Hand, who helped me refine this process and recipe.