Studio News January 2026

Studio News - January 2026

Dear Subscriber First Name,

Happy New Year!

I hope you are anticipating all the good things the new year has in store for you! I’m looking forward to sharing new work and upcoming engagements planned for 2026.

Last summer, I spent five glorious weeks as a resident artist at Oak Spring Garden Foundation (OSGF) in Upperville, Virginia (pictured above and below).

My first visit to OSGF was in 2021, to attend a two-week residential course in papermaking using wild plants with Alyssa Saccora of The Patchwork Underground. I learned that on OSGF land and in the surrounding area were a number of farms maintained by slave labor until the end of the Civil War. I learned the names of six of the enslaved persons working on OSGF land, and immediately decided that if I ever returned, I would focus on finding more names and learning about their lives.

I decided on another goal during that second visit to OSGF: to explore the landscape, particularly considering the native flora that the enslaved would have encountered. This required lots of hiking!

First cohort hike

During last year’s visit, I was able to locate the names of several more enslaved persons, thanks to a database maintained by the African American Historical Society of Fauquier County (AAHA). Though I was not able to learn any personal information about their lives, my findings inspired five new artist’s books, two of which I will introduce in this issue.

Fortunately, our cohort included folks who routinely walk the wilds, including housemate Barbara Bosworth (pictured below) who accompanied me on most of my ventures – identifying and collecting samples of native flora.

I also read that many of the native plants may have been used for food and medicine. Plants were also used for protection, and among the enslaved of the African Diaspora, a practice was to place plants, beads, and other items into pouches that were worn around the neck, sometimes containing text or other symbology. These pouches go by several names, including mojo, juju, and gris-gris. This inspired two new works, A Gathering and Gris-gris.

L-R: A Gathering, Gris-gris

For Gris-gris, plants and found objects were placed in pouches and hung on the wall in a circle. The text on several of the pouches features medicinal plant usages. Gris-gris is a unique artist’s book.

Gris-gris - 60” diameter (variable)

Gris-gris, detail

A Gathering - 60” diameter

The original (or prototype) version of A Gathering consisted of fresh plants with their names hung in a circle on the studio wall.

A Gathering, detail

The plants became withered and twisted, and were discarded upon leaving OSGF, but samples were pressed and later used to make prints for one edition, which also features names and usages of the plants that were gathered.

A Gathering is a double-sided one sheet book – one side can be unfolded and read seated or suspended and viewed from both sides. A Gathering is an edition of three.

A Gathering, front

A Gathering, front detail

A Gathering, back

Above and below: A Gathering, detail

I will introduce the remaining three books created at OSGF in next month’s newsletter. Stay tuned!

Workshop

Meanwhile, registration is still open for Handwork 2026 intensive workshops scheduled April 26-May 1 at Bainbridge BARN, including Speak Your Piece: Artist’s Books With Meaning. If you are considering attending but have questions about the workshop, skill level, materials, or logistics, please don't hesitate to reach out. Click here for more information about the class and registration. Handwork 2026 is sponsored by Craft in America. Hope to create alongside you this April!

Have a great month!

~alisa

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Kind Regards ~alisa