This mixed media collage is part of a collection completed in 2023 meant to inspire a recognition of ourselves in the natural world.  So often we visit nature when it is convenient for us and then go back to living as if we are separate from it. As an ecologist, I know we are nature.  It is us.  There is no separation.  What we do to the natural world we do to ourselves. And what holds true for the natural world, holds true for us as well.  This playful piece depicts people with umbrellas walking among human-sized mushrooms with umbrella-matching caps. By skewing the proportions of things, we can see ourselves as equals with these life forms.  Did you know that a mushroom is just a fruiting body of a MUCH larger organism that lives in the soil?  We are all imbued with nature’s magic and mystery. As the sentiment in this piece reads, “You can find me immersed in the magic of wild things.”