Scott Sherk – Alentejo

“The Alentejo of Portugal is a sparsely populated area of gentle savannah with cork oak and ancient olive trees.  It has been inhabited since Metholithic times, and is rich in prehistoric stone sites.  Sitting quietly beneath an oak tree one imagines that not much has changed over time.

We were lucky to be residents of The Obras Foundation. It is a special place beautifully situated on a hillside overlooking pastures, tangled gorges, orchards, and a distant castle.  There is little sound—except the wind.  It is a place to clear your head and regain the ability to listen to the world around, as well as the landscape within.

I walked through the dry, dusty fields, mesmerized by their stillness, except for the wind.  When the wind came, it swept across the fields in waves that the dry grass made visible.  I was excited by the tangible experience of the space around me.  I could see it, feel it and hear it.

As I was making recordings, Pat Badt was painting notes of color.  Taken by the intensity of the light and the endless sky, she painted many, many paper sketches of color and form…