Eventually a Sequoia – POW Creative Alliance member Jeremy Collins on Writing, Art, and Creating
Illustrations by Jeremy Collins
Two years ago, I received an email from my long-time editor, Kate Rogers at Mountaineers Books. She was once again nagging me to write a second graphic memoir. “You have the stories, Jer, so write the book!” She was right; I had the stories and, more importantly, a desire to share new art and new ideas. So I wrote the book.
When I tour for Eventually a Sequoia, I want to create a space to step into and explore, perhaps a life-size rendition of my journals, on which the stories are based, to play and experiment with a more physical visual. I have always adored multidisciplinary performance pieces from Robert Rauschenberg, the large whimsical installations of Margaret Kilgallen, or any raw, unrefined museum experience that feels temporal. Installation work, to me, is never about the artist trying to sell me anything. The point is to get pulled into a story and the artist’s reality. That kind of in-the-moment rawness is deeply attractive to me. Adding to it on tour will be complex, of course, but also an engaging way to represent my process.
The depth for my art and inspirations largely comes from natural experiences and wild places. But I am also a city person. I love layers of graffiti, modern petroglyphs to bygone urban eras, city lights, angular buildings. Illegible tagging, wheat paste art, and sticker slapping scream civil disobedience which can be equally annoying and radically refreshing, but always emphatically saying: you are in the city.
This juxtaposition of nature and city found its way into the work I am doing for this book tour. I start with urban layers, art influenced by graffiti and tagging, then bring in typography which is crucial within my journals, then I let the shapes inform what the work becomes. I don’t make a plan. There are no draft sketches. It is purely responsive, although also clearly thematic, taking its cues from the book itself.
After the layers of urban-influenced work, I bring in the natural forms: flowers, wildlife, and hints at landscape elements. In a way the natural ingredients overtake the urban ones, just like they do for me on a regular basis, both literally and spiritually. Working in large format as in a mural or for this tour, my strokes are more physical and expressive, in contrast to the more measured and precise line work from the page. Many years ago I worked with the political cartoonist Pat Oliphant; a Pulitzer Prize winner, his cartoon work is legendary and ruthless. As we leaned over a table and I was carefully preparing his work for animation, he grabbed the pen from me and said, “Make it messy! Don’t let anyone ever talk you out of being messy with your work!” This has stuck with me for decades now, and I mutter it under my breath whenever I’m feeling too controlled. With Eventually a Sequoia, the book and its tour installation, you will see Oliphant’s encouraged mess.
As the saying goes, creative work is never complete, only abandoned. But in my case, I intend to keep picking away at this particular work throughout the book tour, leaving drawings half-finished so I can return to it later, at the next stop. This is the same approach I take with my journals during expeditions. I’m capturing the moment, but not every splash of paint or line needs to be created right then. The art is a journey itself.
My wife and I were once walking through the streets of New York after an evening rain. We passed an open gallery and caught a glimpse of something miraculous: a Thomas Campbell installation. He had taken over an entire room with elements of his life–surfboards, drawings, ephemera, and finished paintings. We both love his work and have a number of his pieces in our home. If we knew the work was there, we would have planned a day around it, but I almost prefer that it came as a surprise. What a gift. Even though I have made clear my intent with this tour, I still hope it catches folks by (pleasant) surprise, that the stories of the people and experiences in my book will gain a richer meaning for the audience through this more spatial effort.
A friend recently saw me agonizing over the installation prep and asked “Why does it have to be so involved? Can’t you just do a reading?” I looked at him dumbfounded. My first thought was to say, “Umm, maybe you’re right?” But then, I think of Kate’s not so subtle nudge, “You have the stories, so write the book.” We can have an idea but never do something about it. We can have a vision but never start on it. So, I am doing and starting something I’ve felt drawn to and I hope to see you out there with it.
EVENTUALLY A SEQUOIA 2025 TOUR
Sept 27, 2025: Jasper, AR – Horseshoe Canyon Ranch / Signing
Oct 2, 2025: Kansas City, MO @ 7 PM – Unity Temple with Rainy Day Books / Signing + Show
Oct 15, 2025: Boulder, CO @ 6 PM – The Crowd Collective with Boulder Book Store / Signing + Show
Oct 16, 2025: Denver, CO @ 6 PM – The Truss House with The Shop at Matters / Signing + Show
Oct 22, 2025 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Leonardo with Ken Sanders Books / Signing + Show
Oct 24, 2025: Bend, OR @ 5:30 PM – Roundabout Books / Signing + Reading with special guest Graham Zimmerman
Oct 27, 2025: Seattle, WA @ 7 PM – Mountaineers Program Center / Signing + show with special guest Tessa Hulls
Oct 30, 2025: Portland, OR @ 7 PM – EJC with Broadway Books / Signing + Show
Nov 6, 2025 – Banff, CA – Banff Book & Film Festival / Signing + Reading
About the Book:
Based on Jeremy Collins’ extensive, art-filled travel journals, Eventually a Sequoia is part memoir, part manifesto. Collins, already highly regarded as an artist and climber, was invited to bring his sketchbook on a new kind of adventure: documenting the experiences of those who live along the endangered Amazon River. From there, his art and his curiosity took him to other endangered corners of the world, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the mountains of Nepal, Bears Ears National Monument, and the soaring redwoods of California. Collins’ art-based storytelling captures these experiences in visceral form, from the wonder of passing caribou to the terror of a venomous snakebite. Through it all, he profiles the “sequoias” he meets—people whose small seeds produce enormous results, like explorer and film director Céline Cousteau, community organizer and educator Prem Kunwar, Ancient Forest Society founder Wendy Baxter, and more. Eventually a Sequoia is an inspirational and vivid exploration of the natural world and how it can empower an individual to grow, change, heal, and thrive.
Author: Jeremy Collins
JEREMY COLLINS is a multifaceted artist, climber, and adventurer whose work intertwines the grit of the wild with a mastery of visual storytelling. Known for his breathtaking illustrations and striking narratives, Collins captures the raw beauty and intensity of the natural world through his art and prose. As a climber, his daring ascents in some of the world’s most remote and challenging locations have shaped both his work and worldview, fostering a deep connection between him and the rugged landscapes he immerses into. Collins’ work invites us to understand the challenges and struggle of wilderness and ourselves, sparking a deeper appreciation for both the environment and the human spirit’s capacity to endure. His complex, cerebral, and whimsical drawings and maps have been featured in books, films, and commercial work. From the cover of National Geographic to his award-winning book Drawn: The Art of Ascent, and Earth Almanac, Collins is a bottomless well of inspired expression. Learn more at jercollins.com.
