A Life Between Landscapes
Sheree Wood's life—and the paintings it has inspired—has been shaped by contrasts: of landscape, climate, language, and culture.
She spent her childhood in Iowa and Wisconsin, where the forests, lakes, and open landscapes of the American Midwest, together with family camping trips through the great national parks of North America, instilled an enduring fascination with the natural world.
As a teenager, she moved to San Cristóbal, Venezuela, where the lush tropical landscape and vibrant South American culture broadened her perspective and led to fluency in Spanish. Her affinity for Hispanic culture later took her to Madrid and to a small fishing village on the coast of Portugal, experiences that deepened her appreciation for the interplay between place, memory, and imagination.
Returning to the United States, she completed her studies in Spanish and Portuguese literature while beginning formal studies in painting, drawing, and calligraphy. Over time, these artistic pursuits became the center of her life's work.
Today, Wood divides her time between Wisconsin and Arizona. The striking contrast between the lakes and forests of the Upper Midwest and the expansive deserts and mountain landscapes of the Southwest continues to inform her visual language. While her paintings are not literal depictions of place, they are deeply influenced by a lifetime of moving between distinct landscapes, cultures, and ways of seeing the world.
The Work
Rather than depicting the landscape directly, her paintings explore the perception and sensory experience of place. Images are sparked by walks, then transformed through imagination, memory, and the emotions stirred by nature. The resulting paintings are not records of specific locations, but expressions of how places are remembered, felt, and reimagined.
Wood's work is found in collections in the US, Spain, Sweden, Romania, and most recently, in the Permanent Collection, Château d’Orquevaux, France.
Residencies
Artist in Residency, 2026, Château d’Orquevaux, France
ARTservancy, 2025-26, Afterglow Farm & Gallery 224, Port Washington, WI
2026
Gallerie Jeanne d'Arc, Orquevaux, France
ARTservancy, Gallery 224, Port Washington, WI
2025
Art of Water IX, James May Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
Solo Show: Wonderments, TAG & TiniER Gallery, Franklin, WI
Wamo Gala CABARET, Steinfeld Gallery, Tucson, AZ
Perspectives, Thelma Sadoff Center For the Arts, Fond du Lac, WI
Wherever Home Is, The Overture Center's James Watrous Gallery, Madison, WI
Indie Art Pushing Boundaries, Tucson JCC, Tucson, AZ
2024
Tickled Pink, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
Art of Water VIII, James May Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
49th Juried Annual, The Miller Art Museum, Sturgeon Bay, WI
LMA 80th Anniversary Show, Charles Allis Museum, Milwaukee, WI
Summer Show, The Wilson Center's Ploch Gallery, Brookfield, WI
Stillness, Steinfeld Gallery, Tucson, AZ
Go Wild!, Scout Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
Collaboration, Steinfeld Gallery, Tucson, AZ
2023
Solo Show: Out of the Box, Vista 59 Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
The BIG Exhibit, The Arts Mill, Grafton, WI
Bronze Award in Bold Abstracts International, Camelback Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
2022
Food, Glorious Food, Cultural Center of Cape Cod, Cape Cod, MA
Women In Art, Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
Everything Covid, The Overture Center Gallery Playhouse, Madison, WI
One Square Mile, Cedarburg Art Museum, Cedarburg, WI
2021
Member's Show, Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA), West Bend, WI
Included, The Arts Mill, Grafton, WI
Selected Exhibitions
Interviews, Publications & Collaborations
2026
Afterglow 3, cover artwork for Sullivan's Daughter, A/B-side single Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out / Why Don't You Do Right?.
ARTservancy Year in Review, article in The Natural Realm, Jan. 2, 2026.
2025
Featured artist in The Natural Realm, Sept. 22, 2025, Sheree Wood: Artist in Residency at Afterglow Farm
2024
Tiddlywinks, and Scenic Road, artwork publishedThe Purposeful Mayo Journal, Issue 3.6
2023
Woman Made Gallery, live interview with Veronica Clements, curator, Chicago, IL
Artwork featured in Sunspot Literary Journal, Vol. 5 Issue #1
Cover artwork for Wild Roof Journal, Issue #18
Pandemic Pages: Sketches From My Quarantine Diary, written & illustrated, Sheree Wood Sienkiewicz, ©2020
2026 Mary Knoll Suitcase Grant, WI
2025 Denis Diderot [A-i-R] Grant, France