gone . “ I decided to spend the rest of my life living in nature and painting my surroundings . I wanted to see if I could live that way .” She discovered that she not only could live that way , but that she preferred it . She began to camp full-time and sell her paintings .
“ I realized I only needed food , gas , art supplies and my health ,” she said . “ I ’ ve lived year-round outdoors ever since . I hardly ever sleep inside .”
With only a handful of exceptions , Wiggins has spent the last 46 years camping full time , migrating seasonally between several locations close to her heart . She began near Santa Fe on South Mountain , with summers in Colorado mostly above timberline . “ I was addicted to being above timberline and camping with the mountain goats ,” she said . “ For 20 years I would hike and climb for three days to visit the goats .” Wiggins
Mountain Goats
Priscilla ’ s winter camp at Stillwell ’ s .
stayed on a ranch between Pagosa Springs and Durango , spending the worst winter in 50 years there during one of her visits as the ranch ’ s artistin-residence , caretaking the property and recording her surroundings in her art .
She returns there every summer to paint the aspen trees — an endeavor she has accomplished every year for over four decades . When I first met her here in the Big Bend , this particular fact most caught my imagination : for longer than the span of my own lifetime , Priscilla Wiggins has painted the same groves of aspens every year , with the exception of 2022 , when she drove to Maine , New Hampshire and Vermont to visit friends and family , painting watercolors . The intimacy of her relationships with the natural world is palpable in her work .
It was there in Colorado that she first heard about the Big Bend , in 1981 . She decided to give it a look .
“ That first year I was overwhelmed with so many places to go ,” she said . She wound up exploring and painting the furthest reaches of the National Park , climbing every possible mountain and backpacking in the desert , and has made it her winter camp every year since , with the exception of Covid years .
In 2003 , after Wiggins ’ s mother passed away , she drove to the park and camped at Rice Tank on a two-week permit . When she emerged to get another permit at Panther Junction , the ranger told her that her limit was up . Increased visitation had caused the National Park to change its camping permit policies , to allow more visitors access to its campsites . She drove instead to Stillwell ’ s at sunset , where she was greeted by W . T ., the wonderful old manager there , who invited her to a ranger talk that evening .
“ The head of the volunteers at the time was named Angelina Yost ,” she said . “ After her ranger talk , I asked her if they ’ d like a volunteer artistin-residence in exchange for a camping site . She said she ’ d discuss it with her people and I should come to her office at Panther Junction the next day . All agreed it was a good idea . I got a uniform , filled out the forms and got started .”
Wiggins held a show in her mother ’ s honor at Panther Junction on April 7 of that year , her mother ’ s birthday . She gave painting demonstrations , talked to visitors and displayed her work .
In 2006 , she became the artist-in-residence at Stillwell Ranch , just west of Black Gap Wildlife Management Area , which borders the park to the north and east . It ’ s a role she ’ s enjoyed every year since with the exception of Covid years . When truly severe winter weather interferes with her camping , she can drive to the Stillwell store and plug her camper in to keep warm . And the store happily carries the notecards she has printed of her paintings .
Wiggins has visited many places in her decades of outdoor life , spending part of several winters in the tropics . She would fly to Hawaii , Florida or the U . S . Virgin Islands from West Texas . She spent three to six weeks each winter in U . S . Virgin Islands National Park from 2006 to 2016 , painting the water , which she loves . “ I love snorkeling ,” she said . In 2011 she visited the Kingdom of Bhutan in the Eastern Himalayas , intrigued by the nation ’ s Ministry of Happiness .
Continued on page 26 Cenizo
Spring 202315