John Fatica: Artist in Residence at Bratt Woods Nature Preserve

July 2, 2024  |  Topics: featured artist

---

The Natural Realm presents John Fatica, who is among 12 artists participating in a year-long residency program called ARTservancy, now in its fifth year. ARTservancy is a collaboration between Gallery 224 in Port Washington and the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust, River Revitalization Foundation, Milwaukee Area Land Conservancy, Tall Pines Conservancy, and Lake Michigan Bird Observatory. The mission of ARTservancy is to promote the visionary work of both the artists and conservationists. Each artist has selected a preserve to spend time in and to engage with.

Artist Statement by John Fatica

I first visited Bratt Woods in the fall of 2023. The blooming wildflowers, grasses and trees immediately reminded me of a small woodlot in Western Pennsylvania where my friends and I played almost every day growing up.

When I returned in February 2024 to start my work the change was dramatic. The trees had lost their leaves and revealed a forest of closely spaced slender trunks. Snow covered the ground, branches and downed trees and created a sparse and beautiful landscape. 

I did not have a preconceived idea of what my artwork would look like but I knew that, with time and exploration, something would emerge to lead it in a particular direction. I get to know a place through drawing. I do my sketching of trees and plants on site as it gives me the strongest sense of connection to my environment. I find drawing is like meditation.  I can block out everything except what I am looking at. Being in a place like Bratt Woods supports that meditative experience.

While walking through the woods, I note the forms, textures and colors of what I see. I have seen mayapples and jack-in-the pulpits unfurling on their way to maturation as other plants are just beginning to sprout. I have seen early bloomers like wild geraniums carpet an otherwise green floor with their blue-violet color. Trillium and the unique and cleverly named Dutchman’s Breeches, fungi, lichens, moss, tree bark, and the trail bored by an insect on a tree trunk add to an inventory of colors and forms that I can use in my work.

As a part of my investigation I have tried many media, some for the first time. I have used ink and pencil, monotypes, gouache and watercolor as well as my typical medium of acrylic paint to see if the materials themselves suggest a direction and ideas for the work. The greatest influence, however, is just the time I have spent in Bratt Woods, taking in everything around me.

After six months this preliminary work is leading toward something more atmospheric than literal. Representative sketches have given way to an abstraction that I hope will contain the richness of what I have seen. I want to create a visual environment that a viewer can look at and perhaps get lost in, reflecting on their own experiences.

I am enjoying making the work and investigating as much as I can. I appreciate the opportunity to focus on one subject for a year and I appreciate that very much. I’ve enjoyed   meeting new artists and being part of such a multigenerational group.

My little woods in Pennsylvania has been lost to development. I’m happy to be part of a group of artists that can show the beauty of natural spaces and hopefully contribute to their preservation.

Gallery

Bio

I am a painter living in Shorewood, Wisconsin. I received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Detroit School of Architecture in 1969 and I practiced architecture until 1994. I pursued my fine art interests informally, taking Continuing-Ed classes at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and participating in group shows. In 1994, I decided it was time to place an emphasis on my fine art interests and I enrolled in the UW-Milwaukee Visual Art program in 1994. I received my Master of Fine Arts degree in 2000,  specializing in drawing and painting. As an Adjunct Professor and Associate Lecturer, I taught drawing, painting and watercolor to undergraduates from 1997 to 2002. I worked with students on several independent studies and served as a mentor for a future instructor in the Drawing and Painting Foundations program at UWM.

My  work has been exhibited in many shows including Site Lines 42, a retrospective of the work of Emeritus Professor Leslie Vansen and Her Students,  the SECURA Fine Arts Exhibition at the Trout Museum of Art, the Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors Biennial at the Haggerty Museum of Art, Continuum 2013: In Retrospect  Denis Sargent, Watercolor Wisconsin at the Wustum Museum of Art and Six Counties at the John Michael Kohler Art Center, Air Water and Fire: at the Crossman Gallery of Art at UW Whitewater and other group shows in Wisconsin.

This residency is sponsored by Ozaukee Washington Land Trust. To learn more about Bratt Woods Nature Preserve go to our Find-a-Park page.

Related stories:

Gina Litherland: Artist in Residence at Bratt Woods Preserve

Treasures of OZ Eco-Tour 2020

Hector Acuna: Artist in Residence at Bratt Woods Nature Preserve

This is the latest in our series of featured artists, which is intended to showcase the work of photographers, artists, writers and other creative individuals in our community whose subjects or themes relate in some broad sense to nature, urban nature, people in nature, etc. To see a list of previously featured artists, click here. The work of the 2022-2023 ARTservancy artists in residence is currently being exhibited monthly at Gallery 224. To meet the other ARTservancy artists in residence, click here.

All images courtesy of the artist, except as noted. Ozaukee Washington Land Trust is a project partner of A Wealth of Nature.

---