Testimonials

There are not many places like Bryson County on earth—it feels like a plact of time. The distractions of normal life are filtered out, and you can get into the rhythm of nature, waking up with the calls of the Sandhill Cranes and woodpeckers and ending the day with the gorgeous sunsets over Hickory Pond. It was an incredibly rich and productive time for me creatively. I actually came twice: Once when I first started writing my book, and a second time, three years later, when I was close to finishing it, staying at sweet little Hickory Cottage. Everybody here was so welcoming and thoughtful and eager to support my work--from the very cool record and book collection in the cottage, to the sunlit porch, to the starlit sky, I found the time and space and inspiration I needed here to dig deep.   
Suzanne Zweizig
January 2021 & Jan-Feb 2025

"The Bryson County Retreat is an absolute gem, and will remain in our memory as a peaceful sanctuary. With needs and amenities fully met, it offered our group a much-needed departure from work life and other responsibilities that typically govern our day-to-day schedules. Being allowed the undisturbed time to dedicate towards our art, we also made it a point to embrace the delicate beauties of nature we often overlook or find difficulty in setting time aside for, which was all easily accessible to us. From long walks and quick dips to morning and evening immersions in the all-encompassing natural cornucopia, we felt cradled by moments of solitude within an environment that provided space for clarity, introspection, and complete dedication to our work, which is a rare luxury to come by these days. We would highly recommend it."

Scott & Lindsey // Okapi
April, 2025

I want to express my deepest gratitude for the opportunity to be part of this residency. This experience has offered me a transformative encounter with nature and a deeper understanding of my own artistic process. One of the most striking impressions upon arriving was seeing, at full scale, how life functions here—how humans exist alongside a wild and exuberant ecosystem. It’s not the same as watching it on a screen; here, you feel it with all your senses. The rhythms of this environment— the intense sounds, the light filtered through the trees, the reflections in the water—have deeply impacted me. I was especially fascinated by the way light draws itself through the leaves, casting shadows on the grass like a giant Chinese shadow play. I’ve been trying to find a way to translate that into painting, and I believe that search will continue to inspire me long after the residency ends. Being surrounded by water—lakes, streams, and wetlands—has opened a new way of seeing. The reflections create what feels like parallel worlds, where the boundary between reality and image dissolves. Watching birds fly low across a lake at sunset and seeing their silhouettes mirrored on the surface was one of those moments where everything aligned. At sunset, I would sit in a small plastic boat in the middle of one of the lakes, surrounded by sound. I felt vulnerable—completely embedded in the ecosystem. It was a profound moment of awareness and humility. The forest is close, and as the day ends, intense sounds rise—birds, animals, things battling for life in an ancient, ongoing struggle. That kind of wildness cannot be replicated or fully understood from a distance. It’s something you live, with all your senses on alert. The soundscape here is not silent. Animals communicate in complex and rhythmic ways—a chorus of insects, frogs, birds—all responding to one another in waves. I found myself trying to process it all, to internalize it. These are sensations we rarely explore in urban life: sound, scent, the physical sense of vulnerability. Even the smell of the air here—rich, vegetal, intense— permeates your clothes and stays with you. This state of heightened perception led me to work primarily in painting and drawing during my residency. The pace of the natural world moves faster than what printmaking allows. These works often came together in one or two days, capturing the immediacy of my impressions. These works are born from direct experience, from a dialogue between observation and intuition. I’m grateful for the time and space this residency has given me to explore that connection. I created more than twelve large-scale works—between engravings and mixed media. I allowed myself to step away from my usual printmaking practice and embrace the freedom to draw and paint.

Isaac Osmeivy
April, May 2025