About the Artists/Authors

Photo: Amanda Goldsmith

“We find inspiration in science fiction, fantasy, steampunk, old libraries, fine art, fireflies, alchemy, renaissance gardens, natural history museums and other expressions of phenomenological landscape.”

At different times throughout our lives, we have been profoundly affected by extraordinary moments of communion with the genius loci, or spirit of place.

We conceived Wisdom of Place as a way to represent our experiences with the spiritual dimensions of nature and share them with the world.

At the most fundamental level of living in harmony with the earth and with one another is consciousness. In our individual and collaborative creative practices, we seek inspiration from the energies inherent in the landscape. With imagination and passion, we strive to bring awareness of the spirit of place to all.

Chip Sullivan and Elizabeth Boults are experienced collaborators with established reputations as authorities in their discipline. Chip is nationally and internationally recognized for his expertise in landscape representation and illustration as well as innovative, energy-conserving design. Elizabeth has particular background in environmental design history and communication; both are considered motivational and inspirational teachers and mentors.

“We believe in magic, and imagine that many other people want to believe in magic and recapture their childlike fascination with the wonders of the universe.”

Liz is a landscape architect and educator with over 25 years of professional and academic experience. She is co-author with Chip Sullivan of Illustrated History of Landscape Design, and has published numerous articles and essays on environmental design topics.

Her distinctive art work embraces the spirit of place through innovative methods of composite imagery and has been exhibited at local and national venues.

Elizabeth earned a master’s degree from University of California, Berkeley, and was a MacDowell fellow in 2009. She is currently senior lecturer in Human Ecology at University of California, Davis.

Chip is an artist and professor at University of California, Berkeley, who has devoted his career to promoting landscape architecture as an art form.

Sullivan is the author of many popular titles in the profession, including Drawing the Landscape,Garden & Climate and Illustrated History of Landscape Design, co-authored with Elizabeth Boults. His book, Cartooning the Landscape, concerns the metaphysics of drawing and learning how to “see.” His art work has been exhibited in venues across the United States and abroad.

Chip has received numerous honors and awards, including fellowships at the American Academy in Rome, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Ligurian Center for the Arts and Humanities. He was elected to the College of Fellows by the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture in 2018, and elevated to Fellow of the ASLA in 2020.