Preservationists

SOLD

40” x 30”

Acrylic, watercolor, charcoal, and gouache on canvas

Every summer from the time he was born my fiancé Taylor went to his family’s cabin on a lake in Northern Wisconsin. By the time he started inviting me to come when we met 5 years ago, the group of cabins had been on this lake for over 100 years. In these last five, I’ve seen almost all of them get updated, springing suddenly ahead by 50 years in most cases.

I find it fascinating to come back to this place that is steeped in many histories. One group of stories reaches back to the early 1900’s when this group of structures was erected, another going back many hundreds of years to a time when the native Americans who settled these areas first were around, and yet another narrative reaches back thousands of years before people were here at all. The dense forests and lakes of the northern woods have sat in a state of preservation as the world changes rapidly around it. It does feel like stepping back in time when you come here. Preservationists is a meditation on the rich history of these lake territories, the peculiar discovery of modern upgrades against an ancient backdrop, and the gift of recovery provided by time spent in the woods. I painted most of it while there in July.