The interviewer is a photographer and former Canvas Gallery proprietor, Logan Westom.
Q: Where do you find inspiration for your work?
A: Hello! I am Elise. I’m a Northwest Artist inspired by Gardening through Art. I employ printmaking, painting, and photography through Joyful Plant to explore inherent lessons of nature’s beauty. I have been making art since I can remember, but I started carving blocks to print over 20 years ago. I have since discovered the powers of visual communication and therapeutic arts for our role as stewards on this earth. My multi-media prints foster lifelong learning of ancestral wisdom and the importance of nature.
Q: What is your favorite part about the process of being an artist?
A: I love how visual arts can vary infinitely ~ from oil paints and watercolor to printmaking and garden journals. Through my backgrounds in Montessori education, environmental journalism, and food sovereignty, I believe that Gardening through Art can renew creativity so we can engage with our nature to revitalize our relationship with the plants around us. My work aims to emphasize nature’s gorgeous gifts so we understand the need to become better stewards to the planet. I would like to foster a community around Joyful Plant through remote retreats and creative coaching for therapeutic and professional artists. I hope to help restore global gardening literacy to feed ourselves and restore the soul of our soil.
Q: Also, how large of a role do you believe art plays in the wellbeing of a community?
A: When I learned that gardening can build soil health to the point that human hands could reverse the effects of climate change, I realized that we could take immediate aligned action. With Gardening through Art, we can heal ancestral traumas, love growing beautiful gardens to healthily feed families, and creatively coach professional artistry to help revitalize a more independent economy and effectively boycott systems of oppression. I hope my artwork carries that message and inspires you to take more time to learn about yourself as a gardener by increasing nature’s importance in our culture through art. Thank you.
Gardening Through Art helps creative guides be wildly prolific with the Joyful Plant Method.