This is for fun and love, for play and planet. This is for rhythm.
This is forrest.
Forrest is an ongoing collaborative project between artists Marissa Leitch and Kristin Howe that explores the interconnectedness and causality in nature through a call-and-response process in which we choose a planetary theme that resonates, write, exchange, and respond to each other’s words visually.
Our work brings together poetry, photography, printmaking, painting, and other mediums to reflect on and celebrate earth’s wildness, and the ecosystems of resilience, beauty, interdependence, and cooperation that we, too, are part of.
Forrest is dedicated to and for rest—the state of being creatures of the earth, and the wellspring of self and connection discovered in the luxury of a quiet moment in nature, unattached to the time or tasks demanded of us by the modern world. We are living in a time where we are seeing our natural resources and spaces threatened, and in many places, dwindling. This is why we created Forrest, to slow down, to remember, to make changes in our lives and to fight towards a future where these natural wonders continue to exist.
About Us
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Kristin is a partner and brand strategist at The Beauty Shop, writer, artist, and Central Californian-turned-PNW-lifer who considers any day that begins outside with bedhead and a few art or writing supplies a ‘best life’ kind of day. Her visual work highlights the symmetry seen in nature, often looking toward horizon lines, reflections, bodies of water, or all of the above for inspiration. As one-half of Forrest, she’s our strategist, storyteller, painter and hand-letterer, and Portland HQ. See more of her work @twoscoopsmint.
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Marissa is an art director, designer, writer, artist, and printmaker born and raised in Missoula, Montana. One of four full-time resident artists at Suite Two, and the owner-operator of the only risograph machine in Big Sky country, lovingly named Cedar, Marissa brings passion to her community through art-making. Her work is colorful and energetic, often revealing beauty in unique perspective. As one-half of Forrest, she’s our art director, animator, riso print and brand design master, and Montana HQ. See more of her personal work @rizzaleee.