The premise of this work is to serve as an introduction to one another, to our lands, and to our special existence. It is also intended to foster the collecting of imagery as pieces of heritage worthy of passing on to posterity.

Homes will change, fields will change, towns will change, and these facts give cause to pass on something tangible so that others, future families and various interested parties, may know more fully that we lived and thought of them enough to leave something of worth.

May you find that it is more than a record, though it is at least that. May you find that it is, in fact, the expression of a deeply resonating chord that wishes for others to awaken to its resonance and join in the kind of life that can only grow from gratitude.

“West to Cody Study”

“Wyoming Hillside Study”

“Beaver Dam, Stowe, Vermont”

“Independence Day”

“Snow Fence Study”

Seth Tummins is an multi-award winning artist, showing in many juried exhibitions and with recognitions from Fine Art Connoisseur and the Coors Western Art Show, among others. He is a member of the Chestnut Group painters in Nashville. 

Melissa Wang (she/her/hers) creates deeply layered and colorful works inspired by ecofeminism and science-fiction. Her series, The Word For World is Forest, borrows its title from Ursula K. Le Guin’s science-fiction novella, which critiques the teleology of interstellar imperialism as a killer story. Upon reflection, the series explores life through themes of cosmic interdependence in our era of late-stage capitalism. By scraping through paint to reveal previous encounters, her compositions are full of organic marks that resemble tense, dynamic and thriving landscapes. What practices enable their fragile and continued existence? What dialectic about environmental futurity is imagined?

“The Word for World is Forest, I.”

“The Word for World is Forest, II.”

“The Word for World is Forest, III.”

“The Word for World is Forest, IV.”

“The Word for World is Forest, V.”

Melissa Wang has exhibited across the U.S., notably at Torrance Art Museum and the de Young Museum in California, with works collected by Brown University and Facebook. She has published in Columbia Journal, The Brooklyn Review, Oyster River Pages and Touchstone Magazine. In 2021, she received an Emerging Artist Award from the California Arts Council. She currently lives and works on Bay Miwok land.

“The Word for Moonlight”

“Windfall (Evening #1)”

“Among Sparks and Scions”

“A Short Time in Vacant Space”

“What Secrets Seek”

“Emanation”

Aaron Lelito is a visual artist from Buffalo, NY. In his photographic work, he is primarily drawn to the patterns and imagery of nature. His images have been published as cover art in Red Rock Review, Peatsmoke Journal, and The Scriblerus. His work has also appeared in LandLocked Magazine, EcoTheo Review, About Place Journal, and Alluvian. He is editor in chief of the art & literature website Wild Roof Journal. See more of his work on Instagram @runic_ruminations.

Cora Green is an artist living in Nolensville, Tennessee near the city of Nashville. Her art was also featured in the Spring 2021 Digital Edition of Novus and the Fall 2021 Commemorative Print Edition.

Hamilton Matthew Masters is a photographer and writer in Middle Tennessee. His visual and written work has been seen in journalistic publications around the world and in fine art galleries throughout the United States.

“Autopsy of a Pirate,” Oil on Canvas

“Coin Operated”

David Michael Jackson is a mechanical engineer, artist, musician, songwriter, poet, and web publisher who has shown his work at his site, Artvilla.com since 1998 when he and the internet were young. David’s songs are on Spotify and all platforms under the Artvilla.com/The Orchard Label. 

“Metal Star”

“Waterdrops on a Glass Window”

Sarah Pierce is a chemist who has fallen in love with art. She enjoys exploring new watercolor and gouache techniques. She teaches in the Science Department at Cumberland University.

In an attempt to strengthen the archival relationship between art and literature, I use the accessibility and appeal of the printed word and transform it into a more visual narrative. I reference classic pieces of literature from authors such as Sylvia Plath and F. Scott Fitzgerald to analyze comprehensive themes that reveal human vulnerability. Through multidisciplinary practices, I unravel revelation by translating lines and words to better understand personal dispositions and relationships within storytelling strategies. I investigate themes such as self exploration, liberation from patriarchal thresholds, and the deep-rooted chase of fulfillment. Ultimately, my practice allows written expression to be authored into a tangible representation of human longing and sentiment. 

“anonymous”

Mixed Media, 2023 

“For most of history, anonymous was a woman.”

– Virginia Woolf

“the relief”

Acrylic, 2022

“But I MUST say what I feel and think in some way —

it is such a relief! But the effort is getting to be greater than the relief.”

– Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wall-Paper”

“liars”

Oil, 2023

“Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.

I see her back, and reflect it faithfully. She rewards me

with tears and agitation of hands.”

– Sylvia Plath , Mirror

What Secrets Seek

“a sort of pull”

Mixed Media, 2023

“There’s something between us; a sort of pull.

Something you always do to me, and I to you.”

– F. Scott Fitzgerald 

Shelby Summar was born in Murfreesboro, TN in 2001. She received her BFA in Studio Art from Cumberland University in 2023. Her work focuses on strengthening the archival relationship between art and literature. Her debut solo show, Anthology, was held at the Adams Gallery at the June and Bill Heydel Fine Arts Center in Lebanon, TN. She currently lives and works in Nashville, TN. 

Memorial Hall, Cumberland University

Gabriel Christian Brune or G.C. Brune for short, was born in Macon, Georgia and raised in Carthage, Tennessee. He currently studies English at Cumberland University. He dabbles in many creative hobbies such as Poetry, Photography, Filmmaking, Stage Acting, and Painting. His photography has also been published in Lyre of the Phoenix. 

“Return to Nature”

“Reincarnation”

“Immortality Through Memory”

“Wandering Spirit”

“Eden”

Aurora Merren is a freshman at Cumberland University. She grew up with an older sister who inspired her to create in every way she could teach herself; from painting to sculptures, to crochet. Now that she has found her own, unique style, she loves when others can interpret her artwork to find meaning in their own lives and use them as inspiration for their own creations.