While living in Colorado, I adopted a sort of pilgrimage down to Taos/Abiquiu every year. I began going at a time in my life when I was looking to embrace my independent nature- having a renaissance of self. I decided to go and explore the places where Georgia O’Keeffe lived and painted that felt near and dear to my heart since being a young child surrounded by her work in our home. I went unaware of how more than anything, I connected to Miss O’Keeffe there through the timing of the trip and the way she as well moved west in order to find her footing alongside the natural world. For me she is a pioneer woman in the sense of redefining what it means to be in connection with the landscape as a woman and artist. This place represents that to me. My dog Piper was also found in New Mexico when she was 3 months old- and when we would go she always seemed to soften in a way that seemed like she new she was home.

Douglas Firs, Yucca and Prickly Pear, Big Bluestem Grass, Indian Paintbrush, Big Basin Sagebrush, and Rabbitbrush. This place was home for me for many years while in Boulder. I got to know the trails and plants by walking them nearly everyday with my dog, Piper. Witnessing the seasons shifting- when the grasses would turn dry, prickly pears set fruit, yuccas blossom, aspens light up, and the gumweed oooze goo…The merging of biomes here along the Front Range is an incredibly special place to me.

In many ways I grew into myself here- spending ages 18-24 living in Boulder. I began to see first hand how taking a walk in the natural world was truly the best teacher. Any trying emotion I was feeling could be supported and mended (at the very least, temporarily). My dog walks (in the woods, along the shore, in the desert) have become an incredibly important part of my life, and something I owe much of my mental health to.

I grew up here, just east of Lake Champlain, in the fertile Champlain Valley in Charlotte, Vermont. The ancient rolling mountains with Camels Hump, organic farms and the culture/community they foster, fireflies, creemees, stark seasons, sugarbush, and swimming holes (and of course Champ, the friendly lake monster). I learned how to work on a farm here, tend the earth while growing food for a large community of people. I learned both what a hard, long day of work looked/felt like (as well as the reward), and the importance of supporting local organic farms- how vital they are to an area. I grew up with the New England values of self-reliance, humility, and grit. Vermont will always be home. And was home to many generations of family members before me.