LEONARDTOWN, Md. — Until March 3, visitors to the Port of Leonardtown Winery can view artwork from the “Moments in Nature” exhibition, a collection of pieces inspired by and constructed from materials gathered at Historic Sotterley in St. Mary’s County.
History and Inspiration
Sotterley was founded in 1730 by plantation owner and agent of the Royal African Company James Bowles. The first enslaved people arrived in 1720, and the plantation became a key hub for shipping and trade throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Sotterley survived British raids during both the American Revolution and the War of 1812, during which enslaved individuals were liberated.
Maryland outlawed slavery in 1864, marking the decline of Sotterley’s plantation economy. Over the years, the site changed ownership multiple times. Today, it is managed by a board of trustees overseeing preservation, education, agriculture, and gardening projects.
In 2024, Montessori teacher and artist Joi Lowe was inspired by Sotterley’s history and beauty to organize “Moments in Nature.”
“Hearing what the visitors say about the tour resonated with me,” Lowe said. “The stories that are told, the narrative that each visitor gets to have when they pay for a tour, that is what draws me to continue to work for Sotterley. It compelled me to start showcasing how beautiful the site is, and also pay homage to the people that lived there, the people that labored there.”
A Collaborative Effort
To help capture Sotterley’s essence, Lowe enlisted photographer Damien Wilkinson and painter Pamela Callen.
“I was humbled and excited that Joi reached out to me,” Wilkinson said. “My camera takes me places that I probably wouldn’t go. It gets me to get out and explore a little bit.”
Lowe invited Wilkinson to include some of his photos alongside her artwork.
“I was like, ‘Great, it gives me an opportunity to go out and really walk the site,’” he said.
Callen, who has known Lowe for years, recalled how their paths often crossed in local art spaces.
“I kept running into her,” Callen said. “I would be at a gallery or something like that and she would turn up or she’d be somewhere and I’d turn up. She’s a great artist, very original, with a great sense of humor.”
Wilkinson, who has been photographing as a hobby for about a year and a half, described his growth as a photographer.
“Before that, I didn’t know much about shutter speed or ISO. I was just pointing and shooting,” he said. “Since then, I’ve been getting more competent, trying to reach that next level.”
Callen, in contrast, has been painting for decades.
“I started about 25 to 30 years ago,” she said. “I had just retired and figured I’d go do something I’d enjoy. You have to do something that brings you joy. And it’s something I can do for other people. I’ve painted people’s pets, their loved ones that are no longer with us.”
Artistic Perspectives
Although all three artists aimed to capture Sotterley in their respective media, their different perspectives and techniques make each piece unique.
“I tend to follow the rules,” Callen said. “I like to make the horizon well below the middle of the painting. It gives more space for the sky, and that space lets the viewer breathe. I also like to put things off center. The painting of the fields is panoramic. It gives a long view of the water, the clouds, the trees off in the distance. I did several studies and tried to really describe the feeling of the slave cabin.”
Callen used canvas sizes to match the energy of the landscapes she was painting. “Slave Cabin” is a small square, “Manor House” is a larger rectangular landscape, and “Fall in the Fields” is a wide panoramic piece.
“More than trying to reproduce the image,” she said, “I’m trying to share my impressions of the place with viewers.”
Wilkinson took several dozen photos, three of which are included in “Moments in Nature.”
“Once I made it out to the site, I walked the grounds,” Wilkinson said. “I don’t know the full history like someone who works there and spends a lot of time there, but I do know the background and some other things about the site. It just so happened that the day I went out there, it had rained the day before. It gave it this sort of beauty, but this eeriness as well as I walked around.”
After a day of shooting, Wilkinson had 50 to 60 shots he considered for the exhibition before narrowing them down to three finalists.
Expanding the Exhibition
Some of Lowe’s larger pieces could not be displayed at the Port of Leonardtown Winery. These hanging installations will be available for public viewing when “Moments in Nature” moves to the Lexington Park Library in April.
Lowe said she began these works by collecting materials such as oyster shells, honey locust pods, and catawba branches.
“I’ve collected a lot of leaves and fragments from trees,” Lowe said. “I’ve either laminated or hand-painted and made them into hanging installations or tapestries. My process is just spending time on site and seeing what I can collect. There’s one tree that I collected honey locust seed pods from and then strung them. I thought I had enough, but every time I went home and I thought I had it, I said, ‘I have to go back again.’ I found myself at the slave cabin four or five times still collecting more things.”
Spending time gathering materials at Sotterley’s slave cabin gave Lowe a deeper connection to the people who once lived and worked there.
“I started to build a relationship not as a tourist or not as a visitor,” she said, “but I started to build my own personal relationship with the cabin and thinking, ‘Did those people admire this tree the same way that I’m here, or are they watching me try to collect all these seed pods, like why does this lady keep coming back here, scrounging around for seed pods?’ Every time I went back, it was different.”
Lowe began collecting honey locust pods in the spring of 2024 and completed the process that autumn. She noted how the color and size of the seed pods, as well as where they fell, changed throughout the seasons.
Bringing Artists Together
While assembling “Moments in Nature,” Lowe realized she needed additional perspectives to complete the exhibition.
“When I first started thinking about this show, it was just going to be my work,” Lowe said. “But because Pam’s an artist and she spends a lot of time at Sotterley—and she’s a member of Sotterley, I believe—she paints wonderful images of Sotterley and has done so for years. She also has some of her artwork in the gift shop for sale, so it was just an instant draw because her and I have a relationship, and she has a relationship to Sotterley. I had to include her.
“Her oil paintings tell a story that I can’t tell. That’s how I invited Damien as well. A photograph tells a totally different story than I can tell. I knew my limitations. This show would not have been complete without the two of them, how they see Sotterley. Someone who works there and someone who goes there just specifically to paint and then someone who is new to Sotterley. Damien has fresh eyes where me and Pam really don’t have fresh eyes. I really, really needed them to make the show cohesive.”
In addition to Callen and Wilkinson, Lowe extended special thanks to Nancy Easterling, Sotterley’s visitor center manager, and Katherine Humphries, Sotterley’s education director, for checking the copy of the “Moments in Nature” pamphlet for accuracy; Joe Goldsmith, the grounds supervisor at Sotterley, who assisted in hanging and displaying “Moments in Nature” in Sotterley’s historic buildings without damaging either the art or the structures; and the St. Mary’s Arts Council, which has found venues for the public to experience “Moments in Nature.”
Exhibition Details
“Moments in Nature” will be on display at the Port of Leonardtown Winery, located at 23190 Newtowne Neck Road in Leonardtown. The tasting room is open from noon to 6 p.m. After that, the exhibition will move to the Lexington Park Library at 21677 FDR Blvd., Lexington Park.
To see more from these artists, visit Callen’s website at www.pamelacallenart.com or follow Lowe and Wilkinson on Instagram (@jnl0001 and @d.wilkinson.photography, respectively).
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