– the Story Behind the Artwork

Hanging out in Bishop, “the land where 20 year olds  come to retire and climb” I have often been asked what brought me here, since I wasn’t a climber at all before this year. 

So? Why come to the land of cowboys and climbers? 

 I can break it down in a short list of 5 reasons. 

1. HOME :

 I’ve been in and out of the States for 3 years now (please find me a hus- oh no shouldn’t write these things here), and it feels like something keeps calling me back to the Eastern Sierras. It is honestly one of the few places that feel like home to me. I wake up and am amazed by the beauty of the landscape surrounding me.  

2. MOUNTAINS

Mountains on both sides of a desert valley. On the Western side, the Sierra Nevadas, photogenic granite queens of the valley (and counting some of the tallest peaks in California & the lower 48”’s tallest peak, Whitney). On the Eastern side, the White Mountains and their Ancient Bristecone Pine Forest with some of the oldest known trees in the world . So it’s a hiker’s paradise…and, as I came to learn and appreciate later on, a climber’s paradise. 

 3. WATER 

Have I ever told you how much I love water? ice cold lakes for cold plunges? Ice cold plunges after a beautiful hike in the Mountains? Ice cold crystal streams from which I can refill my water bottle during a beautiful hike? 

3.5 HOT SPRINGS 

well maybe this one is a subcategory of water but I think it deserves a whole bullet point to itself. Hot springs are so so so sacred to me. A hot bath in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by beautiful scenery (see the Mountain point higher up) . And since it’s California…I am…. 

4.NAKED 

Why is this so important to me ? It’s the philosophy that comes with it. Feeling comfortable in your body even with strangers around. My body belonging to me, myself and I only even if there is someone else around.

And on the practical side, not having to go through the ridiculous process of wetting dry clothes, them taking them off and having to carry useless wet clothes around. 

5.SAGE 

Oh the wonderful smell of sage brush. I love to pick some branches and leave them to dry on my dashboard. Then I forget about it and get a wonderful surprise when I open the car door. Oh the wonderful smell of sage brush. 

I also love sage for its looks: it grows all over the desert and in the mountains, fills my eyes with its soothing light blue-green color 

6.JEFFREY PINES

(ahah, did I say a short list o 5 reasons? The thing about life is once you start acknowledging beautiful things, they just keep coming your way) 

Do you know what my favorite tree smells like? You’re just about to discover the answer. 

My second year spending time in Yosemite, a ranger asked me if I had ever smelled one of these beautiful, tall-standing Jeffrey pine trees. 

Na-ah, what do they smell like? 

Of course he didn’t tell me but described how to identify them. And so for the next hikes sometimes I thought about it and tried randomly smelling different pine trees. 

Until it happened. I stuck my nose in between two large chunks of bark and… 

VANILLA 

BUTTERSCOTCH 

WAFFLES 

OH!!!!! 

I kissed it. I didn’t even think about it. 

 Hi I like you, you smell good, I kiss you. 

Which brings me back to the Dirty Chai single being released tomorrow December 5th. The lyrics go like this: 

“You know, I think we’d get on pretty well, 

You’re quite attractive and I like your smell.” 

Here’s how and why I chose the artwork for it (and here’s the artwork!) 

I walk into my favorite coffee shop 

Bishop is full of interesting adventurers. One day, sitting at the Black Sheep (coffee shop that has witnessed most of my editing and mastering process) I officially met Rhiannon ( I had seen her before here and there in our dirtbag universe but we hadn’t spoken much) and somehow learned that she painted. 

So of course I stalked her website. 

AM I GLAD I DID!!! 

Her art is SO beautiful and really speaks to me for she inspires herself from the Sierras outlines and then fills them with beautiful colors and mandala-inspired shapes.. 

I don’t know if you’ve seen my album’s artwork yet, but here it is: (and you can purchase the album right here)

It all started with the mandala to the right, who was inspired by the colors of the sierras in the summer. 

So it made perfect sense to me to use her art as my single’s artwork. I asked her, she said yes, and here it is! 

You should definitely check out her instagram or her website, it’s full of her inspiring art.

And stay posted for the single coming out tomorrow !