Pine Meadow Ranch
Pine Meadow Ranch is a working ranch in Sisters, Oregon, but it is also a space for artists, conservationists, farmers, ranchers, educators, and scientists to come together to share ideas while working in an inspirational setting. Pine Meadow Ranch is supported and operated by the Roundhouse Foundation, which has contributed over $5 million to hundreds of organizations that are paving the way for creative problem-solving in rural communities. I had a unique opportunity to collaborate with Pine Meadow Ranch and the Roundhouse Foundation through my Advanced Photojournalism and Science Story classes at the University of Oregon.
For more information about Pine Meadow Ranch and the Roundhouse Foundation, visit the link:
https://roundhousefoundation.org/pine-meadow-ranch/
Renee Couture walks the path to her studio workspace at Pine Meadow Ranch. Renee is an artist who explores many different themes within her work: from motherhood and societal issues to the historical and social landscape of place.
Renee applies 18 K gold leaf to a hickory shirt (which is what loggers and foresters wear when working in woods). By applying the 18k gold leaf to this hickory shirt, she explores the idea of working in the woods as a prestigous and honorable career and it serves as an homage to a way of life that exists and is misunderstood by those who don't live closely to the land.
The gold-leafed used shirt also points to a past when people were once proud to work in the woods and earn a living wage. Renee carefully applies a fragment of 18k gold leaf to her new concept art piece.
Renee continues to work for hours on perfecting the forester jacket. Pine Meadow Ranch's residency program has provided Renee a much-needed opportunity to work on herself. "I just needed a break and time to focus on myself and my well-being," she says.
She leans over and stretches out her back in her studio at Pine Meadow Ranch. She had been locked in the same position applying gold leaf for hours.
Couture explores a concept within her head by "flocking" a flag pole. Renee says that she likes a flocked surface because, "It begs to be touched. There is a softness to it."
As a resident of Pine Meadow Ranch for two weeks, she uses the studio space given to her by testing out concepts within her head and re-contextualizing and reimagining everyday objects as art that can be approached from an emotional and psychological perspective.
Renee Couture can't help but smile as she expresses her feelings on motherhood. Motherhood brings Renee a wide range of emotions from anger and self-doubt to joy and compassion. Renee's work as an artist allows her to explore and navigate those feelings.
Pine Meadow Ranch: Sense of Place
