Inspired by the wilderness advocate Edward Abbey, I have spent the past four years creating work around the nexus of recreation and stewardship. I have devoted myself to exploring the relationship between humans and nature as well as facilitating dialogue about human encroachment of public lands. Overcrowding of natural areas is a problem of increasing importance in today’s world. According to the National Park Service, visitation to national parks reached 327.5 million visit

Last weekend of Paradise Lost! Here's a look behind the scenes at the installation. Overcrowded is definitely the most challenging piece to hang! I am so thankful I had my mom and dad here to help! Thank you Art Lab for providing this wonderful opportunity to exhibit my art and the use of ladders! Thank you Mom and Dad for all of your support and for coming all the way out to help me hang my show! I love you both! Exhibition dates - July 14-August 1, 2021 Hours - 1-5pm, Wedne

Take a virtual tour of Overcrowded! To see it in person, please be sure to stop by the Art Lab by Sunday. This is the last week of Paradise Lost! Exhibition dates - July 14-August 1, 2021 Hours - 1-5pm, Wednesdays – Sundays Location - Art Lab Fort Collins, 239 Linden St., Fort Collins, CO 80524 Image credit: Overcrowded, 2019 | Acrylic on canvas and plastic with nylon | 34x90x90 inches #virtualtour #installation #gallery #visitfortcollins #fortcollins #thingstodo #coloradoart

Join us for a conversation with a Rocky Mountain National Park ranger about outdoor ethics! Immediately following I will give an artist talk about my solo show “Paradise Lost.” Come learn about my artmaking process and engage in extensive dialogue about human encroachment of public lands. I will be giving away individually handmade stickers! Exhibition dates - July 14-August 1, 2021 Hours - 1-5pm, Wednesdays – Sundays Location - Art Lab Fort Collins, 239 Linden St., Fort Coll

I do not know what I would have done without my studio practice during the stay-at-home order. Immersing myself in my art helped me cope with the sadness and scariness of so many people dying alone. I remember one difficult day in particular when I sat at my easel and painted with tears streaming down my face. I just kept painting and after a while, the act of painting calmed me. My art practice grounded me and gave me a sense of purpose. Pre-COVID-19, I had an idea for a pai

Mark your calendars to attend Paradise Lost, a solo show featuring my work! My latest work Do Not Leave Food Unattended (shown above) and more will be on view! Exhibition dates - July 14-August 1, 2021 Hours - 1-5pm, Wednesdays – Sundays Artist reception - 6-8pm, Friday, July 16th Location - Art Lab Fort Collins 239 Linden St Fort Collins, CO 80524 To preview the show, click Paradise Lost. Image credit: Do Not Leave Food Unattended, 2021 | Wool, wire, tree stump and Cheetos |

This painting of an outstretched arm snapping a selfie portrays the contemporary experience of nature through digital devices. Selfie is about social media and how we use nature as a way to gain popularity and get likes. Even park visitors who strive to leave no trace may not consider how social media “sharing” drives visitors to national parks and causes congestion in places that are valued for their seclusion. Viewers may begin to question their role in nature and how socia

Bison Jam puts the viewer inside a car looking at a herd of bison blocking the road and raises the question of whether that road should exist. This photo was taken in Yellowstone, where I was able to view wildlife from the comfort of a car. Experiences like these launched my investigation of how devices, screens, and windows prevent an authentic experience of nature and narrows one’s view. Image credit: Bison Jam, 2019 | Acrylic on canvas | 48x24 inches #fortcollins #colorado

“We must make up our minds and decide for ourselves what the national parks should be and what purpose they should serve.” [1] Enticing viewers to an idyllic landscape that can only be reached by walking through panels depicting human activity, my installation work creates a space for viewers to examine the dichotomies between the human desire to preserve the wilderness and to enjoy it. These photos were taken on a trip to Yellowstone where I witnessed people getting dangerou

The National Park Service’s arrowhead emblem inspired the shape of my I Leave No Trace patch, which features Delicate Arch. I like how the letters got a little lost in the design. They are not leaving much of a trace. . . What tips do you have for leaving no trace? I look forward to reading your comments below! Image credit: Merit Badge: I Leave No Trace, 2020 | Embroidery floss on fabric #fiberart #embroidery #patch #meritbadge #fortcollins #coloradoartist #contemporaryart #

The warmer weather has me longing for spring and thinking of wildflowers! Image credit: Merit Badge:: I Do Not Pick Wildflowers, 2020 | Embroidery floss on fabric #contemporaryart #fortcollins #coloradoartist #embroidery #meritbadge #patch #fiberart #recreation #stewardship #recreateresponsibly #leavenotrace

My final Demerit Badge is Tree Carving. After coming across several vandalized trees in Rocky National Park, it seemed fitting to make a patch of a tree split down the middle by a broken heart. The P stands for people and the E earth to show how people have broken their relationship with the earth. This photo was taken in Rocky Mountain National Park on a hike to Gem Lake. Image credit: Demerit Badge: Off Trail, 2019 | Embroidery floss on fabric | Approximate 3x3 inches #arta

A week from today is the digital tour of Co-Terminous with curator Erin Espelie. Mark your calendars to join here from 5:00 to 6:30 PM (Mountain Time) on January 6, 2021. Oh, by the way, the fun fact is not completely true. A dowel rod runs down the center and there's a wooden base hidden in the bottom "rock." Image Credit: Balance, 2020 | Acrylic on papier-mâché, wood and newspaper | Dimensions variable #unionhall #unionhalldenver #denver #colorado #art #visitdenver #colorad

Image Credit: Balance, 2020 | Acrylic on papier-mâché, wood and newspaper | Dimensions variable #unionhall #unionhalldenver #denver #colorado #art #visitdenver #coloradoart #museum #artactivism #artandecology #fortcollins #coloradoartist #recreateresponsibly #contemporaryart #papiermache #sculpture #cairnbuilding #leavenotrace #cuboulder #nest #nestcuboulder #artivisim

"Co-Terminous" is on view at Union Hall through January 9th! However, if you're unable to make it in-person, join us for a Curatorial tour of Co-Terminous with Erin Espelie on December 16 from 5:00 to 6:30 PM. Also, Union Hall presents: Straight White Teeth, a digital musical performance located in the exhibition space on November 18 from 7:00 to 8:00 PM. For more information about the exhibition and upcoming events, please visit unionhalldenver.org. Image Credit: Balance, 20

This bright yellow diamond patch resembles a road sign with an infographic of a hiker. Considering the loss of silence and how we cannot escape the sounds of civilization even in the wilderness, I created a hiker stressed out by sound pollution. Image Credit: Demerit Badge: Noise pollution | 2019 | Embroidery floss on fabric #demeritbadge #fortcollins #coloradoartist #contemporaryart #fiberart #embroidery #recreateresponsibly #recreation #stewardship #soundpollution

Take a sneak peek at the work I have in the “Co-Terminous” exhibition that opens this Thursday, October 22 at Union Hall Denver! Using papier-mache, I created these sculptures of cairns for an art installation. I used landscaping rocks from our condominium's parking lot as references. Cairns pose a major threat to national parks as more and more people moving and stacking rocks disrupts microecosystems. Building cairns also causes confusion for hikers who rely on cairns for f

I integrate art with geography. Mimicking cartographers, I create maps to correspond with each demerit badge. To illustrate how going off trail causes erosion, I painted a topographical map of Devil's Backbone, the park's marked trails, and my imagined human created off shoots from those trails. I chose burlap as the structure material because it is similar to erosion control blankets that are used to prevent erosion on hillsides. I chose a neutral color for the topographical

“Industrial Tourism is a threat to national parks.” [1] The first patch I made was Off Trail. The Demerit Badge captures a hiking boot in mid-air about to crush a precious flower. On my hikes, I have noticed many cutoffs where people have clearly left the trail and scarred the land. This damages ecosystems and sometimes destroys rare plants and flowers. Patches are a great influence on my art. My husband and I collect patches on our visits to state and national parks. This is

Mary Yaeger’s female merit badges helped me find the new direction I wanted to go in with my work. I am interested in how Yeager reframed the traditional boy scout merit badges through a feminist lens. Her merit badges depict female “rites of passage” and the manipulations females undergo in an effort to achieve an idealized beauty. Her work led me to create my own spin off of the national park patches and to create patches that show the negative effects of overcrowding of ou