Summer 2015 Depth of Field

The soil beneath our feet holds more than a quarter of the planet’s biodiversity and is crucial to our food, water, and air. Yet, one-third of the planet’s soils are degraded. And so, the United Nations has declared 2015 to be the International Year of Soils.

Jay Stratton Noller is a soil artist and a soil scientist at Oregon State University. His research focuses on how soils and landscapes co-evolve with human interactions. He interprets the art and science of shape and form, using soils as a subject and often as a medium for his paintings. Here, Noller portrays a profile of the Bandon soil series that underlies a seacliff near Newport, Oregon.

Seacliff Beneath Yaquina Lighthouse

© 2010 Jay Stratton Noller

Acrylic on canvas (68” by 44”)