Artist | Paint
Inese Westcott
A Childhood In Latvia gave way to a very different landscape when painter Inese Westcott settled on Orcas Island in Washington’s San Juan Islands. Having lived nearly half her life in Latvia and half in the United States, she returns often to questions of roots, memory and belonging. Her large-format paintings in acrylic and pastel typically begin with a simple visual impression: the structure of trees, a shift of light or the remembered feeling of a place.
Westcott keeps a disciplined daily practice, but her paintings are led by intuition rather than a fixed plan. Bold, fluid strokes take precedence over fine detail, allowing the forest to be felt rather than literally described. The trees of her childhood near the Baltic Sea and those surrounding her home in the Pacific Northwest meet in the work as emotional landscapes. For Westcott, nature is both sanctuary and teacher - a place of stillness, wonder and connection.
That instinct extends beyond the canvas. On Bonnie Brook Farm, the historic Orcas Island property where she lives and works, Westcott transformed a 1915 hay barn into Orcas Art Barn, a working studio and seasonal art space. The Art Barn brings together an evolving collective of island artists working in wood, metal, stone, clay, paper, fiber and paint. It is less a conventional gallery than a place for artists, objects and visitors to meet in the landscape that shaped them.
Westcott is self-represented and has built her career independently, selling her paintings directly and forming personal relationships with collectors. She describes herself as a messenger between the painting and the viewer. Sometimes the truest explanation of a painting is not an artist statement, but a walk through the forest and a moment of looking together.
Artist Information
Orcas Art Barn: 631 W Beach Rd. Eastsound, Washington 98245
Open seasonally and by appointment
