Four Seasons of Beauty
at The Farm at Penny Lane
We were born into beauty as beauty, for joyful, thriving life.
—Woman Stands Shining (Pat McCabe), Diné elder
Four Seasons of Beauty is love letter to The Farm at Penny Lane, a place of refuge, human connection with the natural world, and beauty. This farm in Chatham County, North Carolina serves individuals with severe and persistent mental illness through volunteer opportunities, wellness workshops, and boxes of fresh, healthy vegetables. It has been my good fortune to have spent most Monday afternoons since the fall of 2018 working there as a community volunteer. In this sweet place I can work in an abundant garden and find community with caring people who come together to grow such delicious, healthy food.
For twelve months I took color photographs with my 35mm Pentax K-1000 camera, beginning the first volunteer session in January 2023 and ending with the last one in December 2023. Since then I have been working with the hundreds of images, organizing them by season, and creating new layered images that evoke the beauty and goodness I experience in the garden.