Arriving Home
Surround your senses with the innate feelings of comfort inherent to all beings when returning to a place of belonging. Transdisciplinary environmental artist Justina Freel peeks into the little life moments of six local bird species in their indigenous habitats through an interconnected journey from the coastal prairies to the mountain forests.
Along the Pacific Flyway, birds migrate above borders and boundaries in search of a place to sing songs of home. Ocean tides spray murmurations of cliff swallows that nest on the edge of land and sea. Wading in the marsh, a congregation of snowy egrets create a year-round community here in the warm waters. Coveys of quail scoot around the meadows of fragrant flowers. Charms of hummingbirds sip sweet nectar flowing from the chaparral blossoms of big berry manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca). An earful of cedar waxwings arrive to the foothills in autumn, awaiting the perfect time to feast upon berries of toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia). On the woodland edge, a mother spotted owl shares her matrilineal knowledge with her young, watching keenly from their perch as they branch out in life from an ancient bigcone Douglas fir tree (Pseudotsuga macrocarpa).
Intricate, multilayered silhouettes reveal the intimate forms of native birds and blooms. Their surfaces reveal the subtle shadows of heirloom textile textures pressed into hand-cut paper. Mineral pigments are hand ground by the artist, mulled into a creamy printmaking ink, and paired with colorful paper to transform her drawings into relief prints. Each individual print is made by hand in small batches using an antique printing press.
This exhibition is a joyous invitation to grow a future filled with native flowers and trees that give space for the birds and all indigenous beings to thrive in the land where they feel they belong
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Solo art show at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
23 March - 14 July 2024
Sea Breeze Murmur
Sea Pink + Pacific Aster + Blue-Eye Grass + Fairy Lantern + Mariposa Lily
Textile Pressed Paper Layered Collage
Bass wood frame
43”h x 25”w inches
Circa 2024
$2000
contact to purchase
Coastal Prairie Cliff Swallow
Relief Press Pigment Print
Lapis Lazuli mineral pigment
Insulation Pink 100# French paper
Vandercook No. 4 Proving Press (1936)
19”h x 12.5”w inches
Limited Edition of 20
Circa 2024
Sun Kissed Covey
Quail + Poppy + Chapparal Clematis + Rye Grass
Textile Pressed Paper Layered Collage
Bass wood frame
56”h x 42”w inches
Circa 2024
$8000
contact to purchase
Quail Meadow
Relief Press Pigment Print
Hematite + Pink Pipestone + Yellow Felsite + Yellow Ocher mineral pigment
Memo Orange Kraft 100# French paper
Vandercook No. 4 Proving Press (1936)
18.75”h x 12.5”w inches
Limited Edition of 45
Circa 2024
Community Congregation
Snowy Egret + Cattails + Pacific Coast Iris
Textile Pressed Paper Layered Collage
Bass wood frame
41.25”h x 21.25”w inches, Diptych
Circa 2021
$4000
contact to purchase
Snowy Egret Marsh
Snowy Egret + Cattails + Pacific Coast Iris
Relief Press Pigment Print
Lori Purple Ocher mineral pigment
Whipped Cream 125# French Paper
Vandercook No. 4 Proving Press (1936)
19”h x 12.5”w inches
Limited Edition of 20
Circa 2024
Cedar Waxwing Celebration
Cedar Waxwing + Fuchsia Flower Currant + Toyon
Textile Pressed Paper Layered Collage
Bass wood frame
32”h x 30”w inches, Diptych
Circa 2021
$4000
contact to purchase
Cedar Waxwing Foothills
Cedar Waxwing + Toyon
Relief Press Pigment Print
Hematite + Yellow Felsite + Yellow Ocher mineral pigment
Tile Green 100# French paper
Vandercook No. 4 Proving Press (1936)
15.75”h x 12.5”w inches
Limited Edition of 20
Circa 2024
Regenerating Love
Anna’s Hummingbird + Big Berry Manzanita
Textile Pressed Paper Layered Collage
Bleached Walnut wood Frame
21”h x 21”w inches
Circa 2021
$1000
contact to purchase
Hummingbird Manzanita Grove
Anna’s Hummingbird + Big Berry Manzanita
Relief Press Pigment Print
Nicosia Terre Verte + Tavush Celadonite mineral pigment
Madero Beach 100# French paper
Vandercook No. 4 Proving Press (1936)
Limited Edition of 20
Circa 2024
Matrilineal Wisdom
Spotted Owl Forest
Spotted Owl + Big Cone Douglas Fir
Relief Press Pigment Print
Blue Ridge Raw Umber + Dark Ochre mineral pigment
Tan 80# French paper
Vandercook No. 4 Proving Press (1936)
17”h x 12.5”w inches
Limited Edition of 13
Circa 2024