The 2020 Creative Residents

Dorota Haber-Lehigh
Creative Resident — July & August 2020

Dorota Haber-Lehigh is an artist, educator, and naturalist with a passion for depicting flora of the Pacific Northwest. Born in Poland, Dorota loves foraging for berries, mushroom hunting, field sketching and collecting specimens. She is inspired by her grandparents, who were avid mushroom hunters and gardeners, her father’s travels, and her mother’s fabric art and ikebana arrangements. Dorota is particularly interested in the healing power of plants and nature and enjoys drawing and researching plants that have medicinal properties. She strives to portray the unique ephemeral beauty of plants, bringing attention to importance of ecological diversity and emphasizing both nature and human fragility.

Dorota has earned a diploma in botanical illustration from Society of Botanical Artists in London. She also holds degrees in art and in international studies with a focus on indigenous cultures (Pacific University, OR). She earned her master’s degree in teaching at Pacific University, OR and her graduate bilingual certificate in teaching English as a second language at Portland State University, OR.

In February and March of 2019, Dorota was an artist in residence at Cannon Beach Arts Association. She exhibits and teaches botanical and nature drawing regionally. She is a member of Oregon Botanical Artists, Pacific Northwest Botanical Artists, and the American Society of Botanical Artists.

Dorota has authored two ethnobotanical coloring books: ABC of Native Plants of the Coastal PNW and Native Berries of the Coastal PNW. She has also authored and self-published a coloring book about Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland, OR, and a multilingual coloring book about Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, OR. She enjoys working with artist-quality colored pencils such as Faber Castell Polychromos or Caran d’Ache, occasionally staining the paper with walnut ink to create a unique surface.

Dorota will be in residence at Bloedel Reserve in July and August 2020.