Artist in Residence Reflection: Cultivating Ideas
By Julia Einstein, Raleigh City Farm’s Artist in Residence
There’s joy in teaching an Art on the Farm workshop!
At the end of 2024, as Raleigh City Farm is expanding, continuing to green (lettuce is currently thriving) and to grow in scale, so does the Art on the Farm program. Tools of the visual world teach, engage, and guide a visitor’s experience. The following excerpt is from a presentation for the December edition of Creative Mornings Raleigh when I was part of a group of eight asked to interpret the theme of reflection.
I will reflect upon a year in the studio through the lens of my Artist in Residency at Raleigh City Farm. This magnifying glass [hold up and look through into the audience] zooms in to make something appear bigger. It’s not only a prop for today’s talk, but a preview of what you’ll hear next.
As a painter who works “from life” I’ve always planted an artist’s garden. Now, my studio practice aligns with the growing season on a thriving farm whose mission is to “connect and nourish the community through regenerative agriculture.” Indeed, it has provided inspiration and subject material for me to produce a new body of creative work.
A design is created from farm to studio to create a Harvest Dinner tablescape. Table linens provided by Spoonflower.
This year I played with scale. I looked for the tiny sweet violet, one of the first blooms on the farm, and continued through to the giant zinnia, a late summer blossom. Canvases transformed into flower beds one can stand up to, filled with expressive rather than natural color. Painted lines, in homage to the art of drawing, became gestures as I picked flowers with curvy leaves and elegant stems to be composed in my studio.
I examined the history of floral art, from 17th century Dutch still-life to the 19th century herbarium. This led to Field Studies, a collaborative project* inspired by ideas across media where an iconic bloom was captured in paint throughout the season. The result: an exhibition at Pullen Arts Center of a supersized painting and a living installation.
Flora as art -- a weekly installation created in the gallery at Pullen Arts Center as part of the exhibition Fieldstudies.
Surprises? Yes! Here’s two: Cross City Pollination Year 2 with Raleigh City Farm and Artspace’s Art on the Go van and falling in love with the scale of native plants in early spring when I zoomed into the undergrowth of Raleigh Nature Preserves and created paintings for an exhibit at the city’s Block Gallery.
Back to the lens. My creative process is fed by sharing the ways I make art from observation. I design learning experiences for visitors to the farm to make personal meaning. Because my favorite definition of learning is “to change one’s behavior,” my hope is when one engages in an “Art on the Farm” workshop, they will leave with a new perspective on the giant scale of nature. There’s lots more in the works for next year!
Raleigh City Farm is a learning space throughout the growing season for families of all sizes. Check out the Artist in Residence page for upcoming events and hands-on activities.
For 2025 I’m cultivating bold plans for my studio practice as the seeds of ideas begin to take shape. This includes playing with scale x 2, big thinking on how visitors participate, and making visible the farm’s mission to new farm friends. I see a new body of larger-than life work, a series of textile designs, and a stronger than ever connection with what’s growing at Raleigh City Farm. Next time you’re there, thank them for me!
*Collaborators: Ceramist Amy Axon and mixed media artist Dawn Marie Rozzo
A painting inspired by visual botanical trickery of 17th century Dutch still-life--a flowerbed painted as if the blooms pictured blossomed at the same time.