Abby Wilson

Lands Far Away ” pushes the boundaries between imagination and reality, stretching familiar Kootenay landscapes into deeper fantasy worlds. Nelson artist Abby Wilson gathers reference material while hiking in the mountains, focusing on capturing local landscapes that remind her of JRR Tolkein’s poetic descriptions of Middle Earth.

Wilson’s photos and Tolkein’s phrases are used to prompt Midjourney Artificial Intelligence (AI), creating unique landscapes fed by multiple imaginations. Wilson revises the generated landscapes, and then paints them in her own style.

The resulting paintings work as portals, where nature’s grandeur mingles with Tolkein’s mythical narratives, bringing the familiar into the fantastic. Old Glory Mountain near Rossland echos both Weathertop and the Lonely Mountain. The “Hide & Seek” statues hidden on the Kaslo River echo Bilbo’s stone trolls. The Columbia River turns into the Great River Anduin and local old growth cedars transform into Fangorn Forest.

Each title card shares the Midjourney AI prompt along with a QR code of the local reference image.