Studio post · June 18, 2026
Now that our exhibition has been on display for a few weeks, it's time for me to begin committing to the major projects that will carry me through the remainder of my first year of the Seattle Prize. Last week I presented several studies and ideas to the cohort. The feedback was valuable, but it also left me with more questions than answers about exactly where I want to go next. What I do know is that I'm increasingly interested in exploring how landscape painting can communicate with the public through a rehumanist lens. Not merely depicting places, but encouraging viewers to see the natural world as something worthy of attention, meaning, and relationship. That interest led me back to a photograph from a trip to Taos a few years ago. Along a roadside I encountered an old cottonwood tree that weathered, lonely, and unmistakably shaped by time. Rather than painting it as an object in a landscape, I've been experimenting with treating it almost as a portrait of a companion or fellow traveler. My working title, Still Standing, speaks to the quiet perseverance I see in it. Despite years of wind, weather, and hardship, it continues to occupy its place in the world. It's a simple subject, but one that has helped me clarify an idea I've been circling for some time: perhaps landscape painting can function as a gesture of recognition. By encouraging viewers to see dignity, resilience, and even companionship in the natural world, we may begin to relate to our surroundings differently. This weekend I'll be traveling to North Cascades National Park, where I hope to gather new reference material and continue exploring these ideas. The forecast looks promising, and I'm excited to see what the landscape has to offer. With any luck, I'll return with fresh inspiration and a clearer sense of where these larger projects are headed.
More from Jackson →