A Conversation with Frances Stilwell

Oregon artist Frances Stilwell (1940–) left a successful career in science to devote herself to art. Working mainly in pastels, she documented Oregon’s native plants in their natural habitats. All of the artwork created for her book, “Oregon’s Botanical Landscape: An Opportunity to Imagine Oregon Before 1800,” is on view in the exhibit, “Frances Stilwell: Oregon’s Botanical Landscape,” at the Oregon Historical Society, January 14 – May 1, 2022.

In this interview near her home in Corvallis, Oregon, Stilwell discusses her work and how the Oregon landscape has inspired her.

[IrishAnnie]

Miss Stilwell, I own a steamer trunk that you once owned. It still has a sticker on the top addressed to you at Smith Collage