Project Description
Produced for the Wildling Museum of Art & Nature, Carrizo Plain – A Sense of Place is a 32 minute documentary that profiles a hidden corner of California through the eyes of three artists with a special affinity for this rare and unique landscape. Prior to the influx of Europeans in the 1800s, California’s Great Central Valley was a vast open plain. One remnant grassland of that era remains — the Carrizo Plain. The film features artists Bill Dewey, Chris Chapman, and John Iwerks as well as rare plant biologist Heather Schneider, Ph.D. of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. The insights of the artists and the biologist provides us with a window into the rare and unique qualities that make the careful preservation of the National Monument so important for us all. Through their personal sense of place, the three artists share their impressions and their creative work to reveal the special character of this hidden corner of California.
32 min. – 4K UHD
Bill Dewey has been photographing the Carrizo Plain for over thirty years both from the air and on the back roads of the Monument. His work is a very remarkable tribute to the beauty and mystery of the Carrizo Plain. Learn more about Bill and his aerial work on his website: billdeweyphoto.com
Heather Schneider, Ph.D., rare plant biologist at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, shares thoughts on a few of the species resident on the Plain. In our story, the traditional art form of botanical illustration pursued by artist Chris Chapman leads her to explore the scientific understanding of native California plants. The Carrizo Plain is important habitat for rare and threatened plant species, many that occur in few other places on earth. With a remote location and relatively pristine landscape, the Plain offers research opportunities as well as dramatic spring super blooms that draw the artists and scientists alike.
Elliot Lowndes filming the native flora of the Carrizo Plain in the spring of 2019. Wildlife and natural history cameraman Elliot Lowndes photographed the majority of the scenes in Carrizo Plain – A Sense of Place His work has appeared internationally online and in broadcast outlets including the BBC and Nat Geo TV.
Chris Chapman en Plein air amid the phacelia on the Carrizo Plain in April of 2019. A member of Santa Barbara’s Oak Group, a collection of artists known as “painters for preservation”, Chris paints Plein air landscapes and botanical illustrations.
Chris has visited the Carrizo Plain to capture its scenic beauty throughout the seasons since the early 1990’s. She works in watercolor and pastel to render images of both the landscape and native plants of the Plain. Her love of the native flora of California drives Chris to render intricate illustrations in this traditional form. Learn more about Chris Chapman: chapmaniwerks.com
John Iwerks in front of the dramatic and beautiful interpretive mural he produced in the early 1990’s. Located at the Carrizo Plain National Monument visitor center, The mural was a just a portion of his 3 year effort that included interactive and interpretive displays . Discover more about John’s work: chapmaniwerks.com
