Willow House Artist Residency

I always considered myself an artist who learned how to design. Although learning brand design has been a great joy for me, it has taken priority for the majority of my adult life.

But now, as I approach my 37th year on Earth, I’m wondering: where has my artistry gone to?

Without even realizing it, over the years of practicing design work, I was slowly forming my artistic voice as a writer and photographer. Maybe this is the next phase of my work and it will change later, but for now, through written word and a camera frame, I have found such a needed form of expression and exploration.

I say all of this in order to present my next adventure that I want to ask if you’ll join me in…

“Return To Terlingua”

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Throughout my life as an artist, I have explored and nurtured a sense of curiosity in my practice and work, experimenting with traditional dry and wet media, film photography, design, and writing. But currently I am exploring my creative voice in writing and photography. Through my own life experiences I desire to communicate universal deep truths that others can hold onto and realize, “oh, I thought I was the only one.”

My first experience in Terlingua was for a friend’s wedding. I drove my 1974 F-100 truck to the area and immediately fell in love with the terrain, the people, and the calm stillness of that fierce desert. I have since been back several times on my own, camping, hiking, and exploring the possibilities that land has to offer. It resonates with my soul. With every new encounter of the locals and the terrain, I have come away refreshed and recentered.

It has been a key area to my growth as a person and an artist.

My intention for this residency is to document my “Return to Terlingua”...or what I refer to as going “Into the Wasteland.” I plan to write, photograph and deeply experience that landscape once again through narrative, poetry, and visual writing.

I have been wanting to compile a book of my thoughts and reflections, much in the vein of Thomas Merton’s “Thoughts in Solitude” or Edward Abbey’s “Desert Solitaire".

Not nearly as profound as they but still worth pursuing as I have seen a lot of encouragement and support for my writing in my other projects.

I have already completed one project with an experience in Terlingua that I created through my design and adventure brand Into the Wasteland.

I’d like the opportunity to continue my exploration of the West Texas desert landscape again through the Willow House Artist Residency. The result of my intentions will be a poetry collection, short-form narrative, and film photographs documenting my stay.