The idea of "The Collective" began as a small seed in the mind of a young, wild girl, who grew up in the magical, rolling hills of Pennsylvania.  Seasonally, came the familiar smells, sights, structures, sounds, and scents. 

 

As the girl grew, so did the bursting seed of The Collective.  The girl's childhood was a blissful blur of endless hours spent barefoot in the babbling, icy stream that ran through the backyard covered by a canopy of towering trees. There, this young girl discovered a world teeming with life – toads, crayfish, and salamanders. She watched and listened intently to the ecosystems that surrounded her.  One small change, and the effects were immediate and immense.

 

As the girl grew, her love of the natural world grew as well.  Noting this passion, the young girl's grandma put her brand-new Canon camera into the girl's hands. Naturally, the girl turned her lens towards the things she knew best: the stream, the gnarled mountain laurel, and the shimmering fields of goldenrod. Her camera became her way of capturing the beauty and wonder of the natural world which surrounded her.

 

Simultaneously, the young girl's passion for horses was growing unchecked.  Soon, she became a full on "horsey girl," and every free waking moment was spent with her horses and at the barn.  First, Jessie.  Next, Frosty.  Then Lexi.  Then BG (Better than Gold).  And finally, Mystic; the love of her life.

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Thus, the foundational pieces of The Collective were laid: nature, photography, and horsed.  As the young girl grew into a teenager, young woman, and finally, adulthood, her passions remained.

 

She traveled, had a daughter, got married, got divorced, and got married again.  But through it all, her love for the natural world was constant. Today, she enjoys her wee plot of earth on ancient Susquehannock Land alongside the mighty Susquehanna River.  She fills her days with gardening, reading, and finding the magic in the mundane.