Engaging the Wild: A Personal Invitation to Experience Living Landscapes

Photo Credit: Pete Duvall

If you haven’t visited the Washington Printmakers Gallery this month, let me tell you about this quiet storm of texture, color, and organic imagination currently on view. The exhibition is called, Engaging the Wild. It’s by Barbara Bitondo. She has transformed everyday natural imprints into something transcendent. Using paper, silk, and thread, she builds living landscapes that breathe — art that beckons you closer until you feel part of its woven pulse.

I’ve been lucky to witness the wonder firsthand, and if you haven’t yet, stop what you’re doing and carve out the time this week because the show is entering its final days, and trust me: it’s worth the trip!

Barbara’s sculptural monoprints and stitched works on paper blur the boundaries between art, craft, and ecology. Each piece feels like a conversation between the natural world and the human hand — layered, intentional, and full of quiet strength. But what’s more, the exhibition itself has become a living, breathing ecosystem of experience.

This month, the gallery has seen an influx of new visitors, drawn in by the dazzling window display — a kinetic interplay of light and texture that invites you to step in and stay awhile. Beyond the art itself, Engaging the Wild has sparked a series of unforgettable events: meditation among the works, interactive art journal scrolls, and thought-provoking talks that spill out onto the gallery’s patio. Each gathering felt like an act of community creation — intimate, connective, and deeply grounded.

If you need a little more inspiration before heading over, see some of my photos above, but there’s also her video interview [here] where she shares her process and the soulful thinking behind her tactile artmaking. She’s also featured in this month’s Subo Art Magazine due out on October 20th, offering a deeper glimpse into how she merges botanical textures and emotional landscapes.

And her momentum doesn’t stop here — far from it. Two of her pieces are featured in a concurrent show at Falls Church Arts, and this November her work travels to New York City for the 440 Small Works Show. In December, the International Finance Corporation’s Lobby will also showcase her art in its building here in Washington, DC, affirming what many of us already know: Barbara’s vision is crossing boundaries — from gallery walls to global stages.

So, consider this your personal call to action: if art feeds your spirit, if connection to nature calls you, if you’re simply curious about the quiet ways creativity can reshape the world — go see this show. Wander through, stay a while, and let Barbara’s landscapes remind you that imagination, like nature itself, is endlessly alive.

Do I need to say more? Probably not. Just go! Experience the wild.

by Rama George