To the right is a photograph of She Who Watches (Tsagaglal), an ancient petroglyph overlooking the Columbia River. She is an important legendary figure of the Columbia River legends--some 10,000 years old. Here is the legend, as Lillian Pitt tells it:

"There was this village on the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge. And this was long ago when people were not yet real people, and that is where we could talk to the animals. And so Coyote--the Trickster--came down the river to the village and asked the people if they were living well. And they said "Yes, we are, but you need to talk to our chief, Tsaglalal. She lives up in the hill."

So Coyote pranced up the hill and asked Tsaglalal if she was a good chief or one of those evildoers? She said, 'No, my people live well. We have lots of salmon, venison, berries, roots, good houses. Why do you ask?' And Coyote said, 'Changes are going to happen. How will you watch over your people?' And so she didn't know. And it was at that time that Coyote changed her into a rock to watch her people forever.

"The She Who Watches Petroglyph sits high above the Columbia river, overlooking the village where my great grandmother lived and so there is that personal connection with her. Under her watchful gaze, we remember her as the last woman chief of the Columbia River People. And she did a good job because if it weren't for my great grandmother, I wouldn't be here. To me, she is also a perpetual witness to the fragile ecology of the river."

She Who Watches is one of the most potent recurring images in Lillian Pitt's art. You will find her expressed in these pages in many media from masks and large public art pieces to prints, jewelry, and fabric.

On the right is Lillian's rendering of She Who Watches as part of a piece of public art at Portland State College. The Salmon's Journey is an imposing 50' tall monument constructed of three trees felled by the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980-81. The wood, bronze, steel, and stainless steel sculpture is the result of collaboration by Lillian Pitt and Ken MacKintosh.

One of Lillian's early artistic tributes to She Who Watches was a double-sided blanket commissioned by the Warm Springs Museum and executed by Pendleton Woolen Mills. Now sold out, this vividly-colored rendering of a traditional Native American art form graces the walls of many homes and public places around the country.

As an example of Lillian's gift for continually reinventing herself in new media while remaining true to her tradition, here are two versions of She Who Watches that she created as glass art in 2006. The mask in cast leaded crystal with a stand measures 16" x 6" x 4" and is one of an edition of six. It is among her offerings at Bonnie Kahn's Wild West Gallery and Northwest by Northwest, along with bronze masks like the one used to create the border for this page.

One of Lillian's enduring media is small metal statuary suitable for the private collector. This version of She Who Watches is a macquette in copper and bronze, a 2'prototype for an 8' piece. (For information, contact Lillian.)

Those who would like a personal remembrance of She Who Watches might like to wear a piece Lillian's well-loved gold and silver jewelry.

Above all else, Lillian Pitt wants to preserve the memory of She Who Watches for future generations of her people and for the world at large. That is why she is moved to include this image as a theme in the public art that is increasingly important in Lillian's body of work. Below are some examples, explained in more depth and with details about their locations on her public art page.

The striking piece of public art at the right is Lillian's contribution to "River Spirits", installed by Portland's transportation system, TriMet, at the Ainsworth Greenspace. The site consists of three, one-ton totem sculptures.

The sculpture on the left was commissioned by Central Orgon Community College in Bend, OR. Installed on campus in 2006, it is bronze and stainless steel on a concrete slab and measures 8'tall by 3' wide by 12" deep.

One of Lillian Pitt's enduring concerns has been to educate the public about the necessity to preserve the Columbia River Gorge's fragile environment and especially to safeguard the ancient petroglyphs found there, the premier site of prehistoric art in the Northwest. Though public access to the sacred sites in the Gorge is limited, she wanted everyone to have the opportunity to experience these ancient symbols and their power to heal and teach. She was given a priceless opportunity to attain that goal when she and her team were commissioned by the Civic Center of Hillsboro, OR to recreate the Columbia riverbed and surrounding cliffs in a public art project to open in June, 2005. Read the history of the Columbia Gorge petroglyphs, and see closeups of Lillian's petroglyph carvings here.

TO SEE LILLIAN'S WORK IN PERSON: If you'd like to be notified of Lillian's gallery openings, museum shows, and other exhibits, click here and include your mailing address.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Lillian Pitt can be reached by email and through the galleries that feature her work, including:

The Bonnie Kahn Gallery, Portland, OR
Sunbird Art Gallery, Bend, OR
Jeffrey Moose Gallery, Seattle, WA
Images of the North, San Francisco, CA
Northwest by Northwest, Cannon Beach, OR
Gary Farmer Gallery, Santa Fe, NM