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Today is March 31 and as the mountain range pictured below shows, we’ve had quite a bit of snow this month here in Estes Park, with more in the forecast. I was only able to work in my garden a couple of days before the last snow hit. Alas, that’s springtime in the Rockies! I’m not complaining, because I feel blessed to live in sky-high Colorado. But some recent spring-like days already inspired me to plan out my herb garden; and I can’t wait to get going on it. Until then, I

Today I'd like to introduce you to one of my favorite lines, the things we make with exquisite, hand-dyed red leather.

This tangled trophy is the second in my series of wall mount animal heads (no animals harmed in the process!) Inspired by the Chiaroscuro (Italian for light-dark) drawing technique usually done on gray or tan paper, this stag was painted in the "Renaissance" style using warm colors with highlights of white. The white bust (made of cast plater and resin) needed quite a bit of preparation before I could begin embellishing the surface. My husband concocted a custom combo of fill

Hints of aspen gold, cool mornings, and humming birds dwindling; these are all signs that summer is yielding to fall. We will celebrate summer's end with our final show for the season at the Estes Park Monday Artisan's Market (MAM) tomorrow, August 20. I painted this Rocky Mountain icon; a big horn sheep mount to attract visitors to our booth for the first show. It's hard to believe that this last show for us is already here. My ram at MAM did draw in many who had questions

If you follow our blog, you will know that exciting things are happening in the Botangle world. The business has become a family affair and since we last wrote, we (Annie, Rolf, and Christie) have been working hard to create a product line with our new laser engraver "Zing." The start of this all was purely serendipitous. When Christie was in Colorado in July helping me expand my Botangle business, the sign I had ordered for my front gate, as a marker to my home studio, arri