Chronicles in Wood: an exhibition of tree ring cross-section prints by Abigail Littlefield is on view at the Putney Public Library, December 1, 2025 to February 28, 2026.
Artist Reception: Thursday, January 22, 6:30 to 8:00 at the Putney Public Library, 55 Main Street, Putney, VT.
Please come and enjoy light refreshments and see examples of the printmaking process!
Abigail Littlefield is an artist and longtime science educator whose work bridges botanical study and environmental observation. For more than thirty years, she was a science professor, cultivating a personal fascination with the structures and life histories of plants.
A significant head injury reshaped her life, leading her to incorporate art into her rehabilitation process. During recovery, she began creating illustrated field guides for local trees and plants–watercolor as a means to rebuild.
What began as therapy evolved into a dedicated artistic practice. Her early field guide studies developed into detailed botanical watercolors that reflect both scientific precision and a renewed intimacy with the natural world.
Most recently, she has begun printing tree rings, a process that also merges her background in science with her artistic sensibilities. By translating the temporal records embedded in wood into visual form, she continues to explore the complex stories that trees carry–and the way that art can illuminate them.
Abigail lives in Westminster West with her partner, three Labrador Retrievers, a cat, several ducks, a flock of chickens, and oodles of honeybees.