ARTS

LONGLEAF ART SPOTLIGHT

Artist Lisa D. Watson

AVANT GARDENER, A CREATIVE EXPLORATION OF IMPERILED SPECIES

By Wendy J. Ledbetter, The Longleaf Alliance

With great delight, I experienced Avant Gardener, A Creative Exploration of Imperiled Species by Lisa D. Watson at the Sulfur Studios in Savannah, Georgia in fall 2022. An ecological artist, Lisa shares her talent and artistic expression to communicate the need for balance between humans and nature. The art installation features the Southeast's endangered, threatened, and rare flora and fauna, including elements of the longleaf pine ecosystem, and serves to reflect on the human impacts on these resources.

Lisa’s concern for natural resources translates further by using recycled objects and repurposing raw materials as part of her medium. Typical materials include layout board, poster board, discarded paper products, fiberboard, styrofoam, mesh, produce bag netting, cheesecloth, muslin, toile, batting, and cork. Since 1989, her daily practice of reducing waste and limiting consumption has included constructing her own frames from discarded wood and using remnant commercial and household paint.

The highlight of the installation is an impressive mural depicting a longleaf pine forest, including native shrubs, grasses, wildflowers, and pine regeneration. The species and habitat depicted are the result of Lisa’s time in the field with local naturalists and resource professionals in southeastern Georgia. Many of these natural areas have benefitted from conservation practices like prescribed burning and reforestation conducted by the Fort Stewart/Altamaha Longleaf Conservation Partnership. Longleaf pine ecosystem enthusiasts will appreciate the diversity displayed in the mural. While Lisa noted one of her favorite species is the gopher tortoise, other favorites of the southern landscape, like the Venus flytrap, sundews, and pitcher plants, are featured in the collection. Many of the individual works include the diverse pollinators that use or require native vegetation for their life cycles.

Lisa’s commitment to the environment goes beyond her artwork. She is a popular presenter discussing pollinators, native plants, and thoughtful conservation planning. The livelihood of her own company, Plan It Green Design, LLC, includes consultation services on the use and installation of native species for gardens and landscaping in the Savannah area.

The Avant Gardener exhibition will be featured at additional venues in Georgia and South Carolina in 2023 and will be paired with a variety of nature-related activities and lectures for the public. The exhibition is accompanied by composer Eric Chasalow’s What Shade of Green is Our Horizon?

Find Lisa online at www.art-ldw.com

Upcoming Exhibits

November 1, 2022 – February 12, 2023

Coastal Discovery Museum, Hilton Head, South Carolina

March 9, 2023 - May 5, 2023

Averitt Center for the Arts, Statesboro, Georgia