Carolina Portago is primarily a mother whose priority is to raise healthy and health conscious children. She resides in the beautiful high desert of northern New Mexico with her husband, two little ones, and three furry friends as well as a handful of chickens.
Christine lives in Canaan, New Hampshire with her partner Kip, 16 sled dogs and a gaggle of chickens. Her passion for everything outdoors shows up in her writing as she pursues an MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Bay Path University. She is published in Multiplicity Magazine and describes herself as an outdoor adventurer, dog musher, shaman, cancer survivor and writer.
Sarah Hada aims to use her art to grasp, honor, and preserve her deep connection to childhood. When not painting, she spends her days frantically chasing her two young children through the mountains and creeks of Western NC. Sarah is currently seeking representation in the picture book realm. Visit her at SarahHada.com or on Instagram @Sarah_Hada_Art.
Aliza Eliazarov is a Maine-based photographer and author focused on animals, farming, and food issues. Aliza’s first book, On the Farm: Heritage and Heralded Animal Breeds in Portraits and Stories, was published by Ten Speed Press in 2020. Her Heritage Breeds portraits are now featured as “forever” stamps by the U.S. Postal Service. She’s as happy as a pig in poop (while in fact lying in it), looking through her lens and falling in love with every duck, cow, and goat she meets.
Lisa lives in Knox County, Maine enjoying all the area has to offer: hiking, kayaking, swimming, and taking in the views of Penobscot Bay and its islands from the outcroppings of Camden’s Hills. A community development officer at the Island Institute and yoga teacher, Lisa is most at peace gardening, saving seeds, and buying as local as possible.
Jack Sullivan is a photographer based in Midcoast Maine. He documents the coast of Maine for the Island Institute, a community development nonprofit based in Rockland. He finds his inspiration in the nature and people that exist where land meets sea. You can find him at fonchez.com or @fonchezphotos on Instagram.
Delilah Iris is a self-taught felt and fiber artist with an extensive background in graphic design and print, media, and content creation. Her works include a line of felt sewing patterns and DIY craft kits found in boutique crafts stores all across the U.S. and in Canada. She is a constant creative, also dabbling in mixed-media art and even pottery. You can follow her work and find more craft projects and tutorials at delilahiris.com and on Instagram @delilahiris.
Marsha Robinson (Strange Dirt) is an artist, living and working in Denver, Colorado. Self-taught and disciplined, her work is highly distinctive with a unique flare of grace and symmetry. She creates full and elegant botanical imagery embraced by bold designs. Her compositions combine both organic and disciplined properties allowing her work to possess a certain fluidity while still maintaining order and structure.
Kirsten Petroska has always loved a good story, especially the ones told by her grandparents. When not retelling their stories or fashioning her own, she can usually be found with her three children and husband, with whom she lives in western Maine. She can also be found online on Instagram @mamaintheforest where she will probably offer to read your tarot cards.
Maria Larsson is an illustrator and surface pattern designer from Stockholm. A former potter and archeologist, she is passionate about beautiful everyday objects and believes that arts, crafts and patterns have a profound impact in our lives. She's inspired by human history, Scandinavian nature and the romantic surroundings of her little Paris studio. Discover more at doillustration.com
Brandi-Ann Uyemura is a freelance writer who juggles homeschooling, writing for magazines and children’s fiction with coaching creatives to pursue their passion. She has a master’s in counseling psychology, is a former associate editor for Psych Central and columnist for The Writer. She shares life in her hometown of Oahu on Instagram @Theinspiringbee and blogs on brandi-annuyemura.com and theinspiringbee.com.
Melissa and Jennifer VanSant are sisters from the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts. They opened their business Going Gnome in 2011. The past decade has been full of, felted gnomes, dragons, birds, and woodland animals. Along with the development of a line of needle felting kits, teaching workshops, and exhibition at retail and wholesale trade shows across the country.
