Two Dot Schoolhouse Residency

I was honored to be invited to be an artist in residence at Two Dot Schoolhouse in Two Dot, Montana this summer. Two Dot is a tiny town in rural Montana with a population of about 26 people. The schoolhouse has a rich history. It has been operating as an artist space with invitational residencies since 2007, with amazing artist and writer Ruth Marie Tomlinson at the helm. Traveling to Two Dot, I thought of a laundry list of things I need to get done related to my art practice while in residence. But then, I stopped myself, and granted myself permission to move slowly, embrace chance, and tune in to my practice in new ways without conditions.

21 postcards created at Two Dot Schoolhouse, Two Dot, MT.

Painted Ponies

On my way out of Helena, I stopped at an antique mall to find some collage materials to work with during the residency. I come about collage material very organically. A lot of it is gifted to me, and when I go to a place looking for material, I am very, very open to what I might find. I am even open to letting it totally inform the work, if it moves me enough to do so. 

I ended up with glamour shots of American carousel horses.

I have very fond memories of going to the local Prairie Rose Carousel in Wahpeton, ND with my grandma and my mom growing up. I felt beautiful on my favorite horse, Pegasus. It was such a staple in the summer in my community, and all the kids that grew up there had a photo of themselves with their parent or grandparent on their favorite carousel horse. Seeing this material evoked a sense of nostalgia, familiarity, and fondness... and discomfort. I am fascinated that I never noticed as a child that the horses’ expressions can seem like grimaces of pain, or distress. To me now, they read as vacant and a little sad, haunted, distant. I think it’s the eyes. This connects with a larger thread that’s been going through my work lately, so far manifest using Barbie doll packaging and imagery combined with more serious / sinister imagery.

So I bought the ponies along with some other paper materials, and drove 2 hours into the big, open landscape.

Working at Two Dot Schoolhouse

I got to work, cutting up paper and layering encaustic wax. I started making lots of mistakes. That’s how I work, despite my efforts to change my process: there must be a ton of absolute fucking garbage made before I can see everything I don’t want the work to be, and be able to make the work the way I actually want it to be. I need to make a lot of drafts. I started working with the portraits in the encaustic wax, and for me what began emerging is a nostalgia, a longing. Along with the bright color, now muted by the patina of the encaustic wax, and uncanny whimsy of the carousel horses, each piece is also layered with images of archers aiming & shooting, children and women wearing gas masks, and other imagery evoking danger, war, or violence.

Encaustic collage painting, a work in progress.

My days at the Schoolhouse were mostly unplanned, and that felt like such a relief. I felt very safe to create there. I stayed in a very large studio space in the basement, and had access to a separate room with ventilation for encaustic work. The very rural setting of the schoolhouse fostered creativity and rest. I listened to music sometimes while I worked, but I found myself mostly enjoying the quiet, and the dark, and the sounds of the birds & frogs. A few times, music that the other resident artist, quinn mcnichol, was working on traveled down to my basement space. I was so grateful for those moments. I loved connecting with them and learning about their work and process.

Forward

It was such a wonderful, wonderful feeling to not be on a schedule, anyone’s schedule, including my own. I’m so eternally grateful for that. After spending the whole time dealing with images of carousel horses, and noting their twisted, fierce expressions and three-quarter profile portraits, we decided to each pull one tarot card from a deck created by former artist in residence Two Dot, Stasia Burrington, on my final morning there. 

Ruthie pulled a card from the deck first. She handled the deck carefully, letting her intention and energy communicate with the cards. She said out loud, “I'm thinking about Leah's time here in Two Dot. I'm curious about the space in between her being here, and what is to come next.” 

She pulled the Chariot card, picturing, of course, a grimacing portrait of a horse. 

The Chariot card from The Sasuraibito Tarot by Stasia Burrington.