Joyce Gehl, Moondance, 2022, mixed media resin, 24 x 24 x 2 in

Joyce Gehl is an artist living and working on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands, whose practice is shaped by the quiet complexity of the Pacific Northwest landscape. Her work explores emotional and imaginative relationships with nature, focusing on how it feels to be immersed in forests, shorelines, shifting light, and interconnected ecosystems.

Gehl begins with photographs taken outdoors, which she uses as the foundation for digitally composed landscapes. Through layering, blending, and iterative refinement, these images evolve into hybrid compositions that bridge observation and imagination. The works are then translated into painting and finished with resin, creating luminous, dimensional surfaces.

Her process builds multiple transparent layers in which painted marks appear suspended, producing depth and a sense of movement. Up close, the imagery breaks into mosaics of individual gestures, reflecting the living systems that inspire her work. The final resin surface subtly reflects the viewer and surrounding environment, integrating them into the composition.

Gehl's paintings invite contemplation on interconnection, emphasizing that humans are not separate from nature but part of its unfolding presence.