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allison strickland

@allisonstrickland_

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Oracular Artist | Creating Sacred Space
䷁ Paintings + 1:1s
䷀ To transform your inner and outer worlds
䷖ Step in.

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Ever since this summer’s JTH Artist Residency, we’ve added “javelina” to our family dinner ritual. Every night at dinner we do “bloom, bloom, spine, bud”: our desert version of sharing two things we loved from the day, what didn’t go so great, and what we’re looking forward to.

@ayeshaophelia introduced the idea of adding a surprise from the day to the group as “buffalo,” and when we shared our answers at the end of the week, the collective surprise was just how impactful the community of the week had been. How much we’d forgotten, while working away in our own little bubbles, how much we all needed a moment together. To remember how good that feels.

@meganwoodstudio even named the piece she created that week, which now lives at @jthtucson, Buffalo Collective—a reflection on how seamlessly a group of mostly strangers became a collective in just one week.

So at home, “buffalo” became “javelina”: what surprised us that day. Over a month later, we’re still saying it around the dinner table. 🤎

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What a treasure to have my time at @jthtucson documented by @jenicah !!! Extra special to have images of @melissa.lakey and I working side by side, which we did all week and I’m missing so deeply.

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🌵 I didn’t make any of the work I expected to make at the Joshua Tree House Tucson Artist Residency @jthtucson a few weeks ago (July 2026).

I went there intending to paint in a limited palette of muted desert hues. My plan was to let the saguaro rich landscape of the Sonoran Desert inspire my subject matter, along with the inn where the residency takes place, its beautiful objects, the garden, the animal encounters (owls hopefully!), the monsoons…

I didn’t paint any of that.

Instead, my paintings were extremely colorful and… emotional?

I found myself deeply moved by the palpable warmth, love, and beauty that contained us all from the moment we gathered at the long table in the shade of the old olive trees for a shared meal the very first night.

I painted that feeling. That experience. “The true nature of reality,” was the way I would describe it to myself.

It was a glimpse — no, an immersion — into a life where living with people was so very different from the paradigms of polarity and struggle that we’re usually fed on our phone screens.

Instead — an easy joy. Gentle curiosity and open-hearted inclusion. A paradigm where creativity was the dominant force at play both within and out among us, between us. The work I made reflected mutual care, shared joy, and collective rebirth.

I look forward to sharing the paintings I made there in the days to come, but…

…for the moment, I want to express my whole hearted gratitude to the brilliant, talented, kind people I had the gift of spending time with during this residency:

@kurtoviedo
@andrea.koesters
@stevierozean
@allisonstrickland_
@armandomesias
@meganwoodstudio
@melissa.lakey
@ayeshaophelia

Sara and Rich [ @thejoshuatreehouse ] — thank you for creating a microcosm where creativity and love flourish. Thank you for inviting me into that world and reminding me of the true nature of reality.

May all beings increasingly experience the life-affirming conditions that help them blossom and thrive.

————

#artist #artistresidency #JoshuaTreeHouse #JTHtucson #JTHtucsonArtistResidency

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STRANGE BEAUTY ::: One could say all organic beauty is a bit strange.

Tuscan Arizona and the @jthtucson captured my heart.
What an otherworldy location for a group of artists to gather and make art, which is always a form of meaning making.

My art was about death. A children’s book for kids of all ages. Not an easy topic but a necessary one.

Especially right now as we have navigate complex feelings about Carolyn Elliott and other well known people who have recently passed.

I wrote an essay: a little about my experience, a lot about death, and a lot about the strange magic of the desert.

Comment STRANGE and you can click right onto the substack and read for yourself. I hope it brings your heart some soothing.

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Some weeks don’t need words. This past week’s JTH artist residency was one of them—so we’ll show you instead. Endlessly proud of these artists, and grateful to have gotten to know each of them:
✨ @kurtoviedo ✨ @armandomesias ✨ @stevierozean
✨ @allisonstrickland_ ✨ @ewen_paintings ✨ @melissa.lakey ✨ @andrea.koesters ✨ @meganwoodstudio
✨ @ayeshaophelia

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feeling weightless after a week making art alongside a crew of deeply present, skilled-yet-humble, artists-turned-friends.

the desert bathed me in connection and the work flowed freely. I felt childlike in my exploration of materials. There was joy in the work, and I allowed experimentation and curiosity to guide me. I let go of some deeply held insecurities. I accepted myself — fears, flaws, all. and it was most of all, FUN.

Thank you to my fellow JTH residents, and especially to Rich and Sara for providing such a beautiful space and opportunity. I’ll never be the same, genuinely.

@jthtucson @thejoshuatreehouse

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Forever changed by my first artist residency at @jthtucson and the humans who made it so incredibly meaningful.

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For one week each summer, the @jthtucson invites 8 artists to come be inspired by the landscape, the heat, the magic of monsoon season, and create art in our beautiful little desert inn. Yesterday, that week culminated in studio tours to share the incredible work they’ve been making. I’m feeling awe inspired by the sheer number of pieces they created, by their talent, and most of all- by the way they connected with one another and formed a safe a supportive community all within the span of a few days.

Working in hospitality can be incredibly draining and challenging, I’ll take this week and carefully file it away to draw from and remember it can also be nourishing, connective, and rewarding.

Many many thanks to all of our artists for sharing a bit of your magic with us ✨

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This Friday, our JTH Artist Residency begins. 
For a week, these artists will call the Sonoran desert home, each bringing their own practice while sharing meals, quiet mornings, electric afternoon monsoons, and the kind of creative community that so often gets lost in everyday life. 
A warm welcome to this year’s residents:

✨ @ewen_paintings

✨ @kurtoviedo

✨@andrea.koesters

✨ @stevierozean

✨ @allisonstrickland_

✨ @armandomesias

✨ @meganwoodstudio

✨ @melissa.lakey

✨ @ayeshaophelia

Excited to share more throughout the week next week!

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Introducing: Allison Strickland (@allisonstrickland_).

Allison is a Brooklyn-based artist. Her practice includes intuitive readings that create a spiritual frameworks to explore emotional, energetic, and life patterns. Her works begin with preparing the canvas in a color that she aims to meditate on, after which she applies rhythmic dash marks in a talismanic process, repeating them like mantras for healing and transformation.

Discover her work as part of Focus Collection: Spring/Summer ‘26, now live on Uprise Art.

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Introducing Focus Collection: Spring/Summer ‘26.

We’re excited to present a curated selection of unique works by four artists:
• Allison Strickland (@allisonstrickland_)
• Emma Gerig (@eeeeemma.gee)
• Lara Youssef Nabawy (@lara.nabawy)
• Mary Royall Wilgis (@maryroyallstudio)

Tap the link in our bio to discover the collection.

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This is my imagery of the new Aries era because of the Ram teaches me anything it’s that Eros is the antidote to death. So I’m committed to creating more gatherings of laughter and learning, play and dance, with my community amidst a hellscape of violence. How about you?

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