Thank you for dropping by my website. I hope you enjoy your stay! Are you an artist, or patron, nature-lover? Maybe an old friend, or lucky happenstance lander-on-the page? Today I’ve been updating some parts of my site. One of those parts is this graphical representation of my artist statement:
When I use this for entering shows or exhibitions, I just use the text, not the whole graphic. I just included the image here so that you can see one way in which it can work for marketing.
Update as Needed
update 2026– I need to change the image to show an oil painting now, since I began using oils in late 2023. The statement itself still holds true, though, so I’m keeping that. If you’re seeing this after the fact, there used to be an eagle in watercolor there. I like the crow I did in oils so that’s the one I’ll likely swap it out for.
Welcome!
This post might serve as the first contact many of us will make with each other. So let me introduce myself. I’m an artist who makes her paints from the resources right outside my back door. And, I like to write. My blog wasn’t always focused on my art, though. In the beginning, it was hand-coded musings about the medicinal herbs I was learning about, my fiction writing, nature photography, philosophical musings, and in general, about my life as I geared up to move to the Ozarks. I’d like to begin bringing more of the writing back to my life and my blog.
Likewise, I’d love to know more about you. Leave a comment to tell me about yourself. For example, what do you love to do in your spare time? What is your day job, and hobby, or is your work the thing you love to do most? What part of the world do you call home? If you’re a long-time friend and follower of this blog, leave a comment to introduce yourself to the others, and any newcomers who might drop by. Also, if you have a website, be sure to leave your link!
What’s an Artist Statement?
An artist statement is a short passage that explains the artist and their work. It’s a thing artists need to have on hand when entering some juried shows. Ordinarily, they’re in text format. As such, they’re supposed to give a quick artistic bio of sorts, to tell the juror and art patrons what I do and why. Anyway, that’s my understanding of it. Mine is in graphical format so it’s easy use on my websites and social media. However, it’s also a thing I’m never completely satisfied with. So, it evolves. I’ll update it from time to time, too. But here it is for now.
Get in Touch
Madison Woods
P.O. Box 173
Kingston, AR 72742
madison@wildozark.com
Visit me at my studio, on Open Studio days starting September 2026. Here’s the page to keep up with that schedule: Studio
Where’s the Art?
Here’s where you can my finished art.
Are you an original art enthusiast? If so, know that I send out a printed catalog of originals on hand in fall. To have one mailed to you, just drop me an email and send me your snail mail address. You can see most of the originals and prints listed in my shop here at this website. If you don’t see the one you want, just get in touch. I can print any of them, but I don’t have them all listed yet.
Thank you for visiting me here today. I hope you’ll return again soon!
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Author/Artist Info
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In the summer of 2018 I began making watercolor paints from the rocks, clay, and other resources of our land here in the Ozarks. In 2023 I began experimenting with the same pigments in oils. I call them Wild Ozark Paleo Paints, because they’re made in a way very close to the same way paints were made when man (or woman) first put a hand-print on the wall of a cave. I use very small amounts of outsourced pigment for blue, white, and sometimes yellow to offer a greater range of hues built upon the earthy local pigments. My specialty is painting nature, specifically the nature that surrounds me here in the remote hills of northwest Arkansas.
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Madison Woods
@wildozark (Instagram, Twitter, Threads and FB)
madison@wildozark.com
Want to join me for workshops or see my art?
Coming soon! I have a new Studio in the Works 🙂
The building is here and I’m finishing out the interior. I hope to begin offering classes/workshops by the end of September 2026 and host Open Studio days regularly right here at Wild Ozark, where the possibilities for nature experiences (including nature art) run rampant.
The best way to stay informed is to sign up for my newsletter and check off the box ‘Studio News’ (or whatever is closest to that description). I’m updating there as I meet the goalposts and will announce anything planned as soon as I get firm dates.
Are you ready for an incredible journey?
Learning how to make paint is more than a means to an end with a pan or tube of paint. It’s incredibly eye-opening to find out just how early artists made paints so that they could then make their art. This online course or in-person workshop on making paint will forever alter your perception of ordinary ground and rocks.
Selected Works in Oils
Madison Woods is an Ozark nature artist creating original fine art from the ground up. This earthy art portfolio features works painted with hand-processed mineral pigments foraged directly from the Ozark landscape.
My practice is one of slow, intentional art. Long before the first brushstroke, the journey begins with ethical wildcrafting—gathering local rocks, clay, bone, and soot to serve as raw pigment. Each source is meticulously transformed into professional-grade paint through traditional methods of crushing, washing, sifting, and mulling.
While most of my palette is locally sourced, I supplement with select lightfast pigments for colors like blue and white to ensure a complete, archival range. From raw stone to finished canvas, my work captures the authentic, unrefined soul of the Ozarks.
In summary, the Ozark nature artist Madison Woods starts from source to paint. The process involves crushing, washing, drying, mulling, and containing the paint into tubes. The details for processing varies with each type of source (rocks, clay, bone, or soot).
