If you visit Eugene Oregon you may find Barbara Counsil hiking Spencer Butte, fixed on the sight of the Cascade Mountains in the distance. Or perhaps you’ll find her leaving German club to load up on fresh local produce at the Lane County Farmers Market. In the evening, you can meet her to sample Japanese cuisine, sipping whiskey at Meiji restaurant. She relocated to Eugene from Michigan in 2013 and isn’t leaving any time soon.
“I’ve always been drawn to the Northwest for the forests and the mountains. Now that I’m here, the people and the culture make me feel at home.”
A culture uniquely positioned at the intersection of art and nature.
“My most recent project involves landscape paintings in the form of altars. I have become deeply concerned about the protection of natural places, particularly in the United States.” Counsil’s altars offer art, awareness and a call-to-action to preserve mountains, rivers, and geological formations. “I hope people will contribute offerings to protect these resources and landmarks from corporate development and devastation.” The first altar features the Fort Rock tuff ring, a horse-shoe shaped volcanic landmark measuring nearly 4,460 feet (1,360 m) in diameter and climbing as high as 200 feet (60 m) in some sections. In fact, most of Barbara’s art features or advocates for the environment.
“Nature is the most beautiful thing, beyond what I could dream up alone,” Counsil enjoys studying plant and animal field guides to learn about new species, but more than anything, she simply tries to savor the outdoors. “I go outside and listen.”
Responding to the need for heightened sustainability and conservation efforts, Counsil hopes to incorporate fabricated material into her future artwork. “I’d love to collect discarded plastic materials and repurpose them into functional art.” Counsil creates works of illustration, photography, portraiture, design, murals, and the abstract; always seeking opportunities to expand her trade skills. “As an artist, it’s good to be well-rounded. I’m so interested by everything that I don’t have one style.”
Perhaps Counsil’s interest in everything led her to commit to a Colin Beavan-inspired, Zero Waste Challenge in August 2017. Having tossed her packaged food staples like Cheez-its and Captain Crunch, she now primarily shops for groceries without packaging and hopes to grow her own food in the future. But she still drives a Chevy Malibu, occasionally. “Living a good life is about balance,” Counsil adds. And balance is different for everyone.
Withholding judgement for the masses, Counsil believes high consumption is the largest threat to the environment. “Production of both food and materials uses energy and creates byproducts. Packaging and marketing those things uses energy and creates byproducts. Transporting those things uses energy and creates byproducts. If we could learn to be happy with less, I think a lot of our environmental problems would slow down.”
But as an avid runner, sometimes Counsil does speed up to enjoy the outdoors, running on the trails at University of Oregon. In 2007, she completed the Grand Island Marathon, an experience that continues to inspire her to take life in stride every day, always working toward a worthwhile goal.
Located in the middle of Lake Superior, just off the coast of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the Grand Island Marathon is known as the most beautiful marathon in the state, runners take in views of the Hiawatha National Forest as they run the perimeter of the island. A picturesque panorama of evergreen trees and freshwater driftwood, the views would be enough to make any nature skeptic convert to a life of environmentalism. But the experience also taught Counsil something far more important. “I learned not to desire quick results, you cannot just train for a marathon and run it in two months.”
Inspired by a life in appreciation of the outdoors, Counsil now seeks to understand. She seeks to understand how she can leverage her vast artistic talents to bring awareness to sustainability, she seeks to understand her own contribution to waste, and she seeks to understand those who don’t seem to understand.
“People become really connected to these places in nature, we do give them names, after all. But for me, it is the evidence that humans lived there years ago. It’s sad that others seem so anxious to destroy the legacy of the land and the homelands of others.”
Both artist and activist, Barbara Counsil is just beginning her next marathon. And if you ever see a painting with an altar, celebrating the land, perhaps you’ll choose to join her on her journey.
Learn more at http://www.marbart.net.