You Belong

Isa Catto

Founder and Creative Director

Isa gathers inspiration from a variety of sources: the cultivated landscape of her high altitude garden, the wilder landscape of her native Colorado Rockies, and the more subterranean territories of mythology, literature, and poetry. These sources are conduits to more universal terrain, where she explores the rigors of loss, belonging, authenticity and connection, all the while examining the arenas of motherhood, sanctuary, and redemption. Her Creative Rummage blog augments this creative process and can be read here.

Left Brain Bio

Isa has spent the last twenty-five years working in watercolor and mixed media, as well as teaching workshops at arts institutions around the country, including Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass, CO, and the Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. She is represented by Harvey Preston Gallery and Kristy Stubbs Gallery. She also writes a regular column for The Chronicle of Philanthropy and advocates for arts education, social justice, and conservation. You can read her column here. Catto lives outside of Aspen, Colorado, with her husband, the writer Daniel A. Shaw, two children, and various dogs, on a small farm where she stewards the award-winning Mojo Gardens.

Right Brain Notes

1. I hike the hills at every available opportunity to peer at things. 
2. I carry my sketchbook everywhere.
3. I am a ruthless backgammon player.
4.  I think curiosity is a vital organ.
5. I have a great many ideas and then forget them. 
6. I hate to pack.
7. I would own ten more dogs but want to stay married.
8. I am crazy about Tom Petty.
9. I am always the wrong temperature on airplanes.
10. There are never enough flowers.

Ted Maertens

Studio Manager

Ted Maertens is our resident photographer, sustainability guru, and gallerist. After graduating from university, he moved to our little valley and joined the team. For any inquiries about art, or sustainability efforts please email him at [email protected].

Left Brain Bio

In May 2020, Ted graduated from Vanderbilt University, majoring in Ecology and Art. During his time in Nashville, he worked in opera and dance production, while developing his interest in sculpture. The rest of his time was devoted to vegetation and ungulate research in Brazil and in forests throughout Tennessee. This combination of studies has made him a great fit for our studio.

Right Brain Notes

1. I am chronically task oriented.
2. I sneeze very loudly.
3. Whitewater is my amusement park.
4. I have a vested interest in the well-being of white-lipped peccaries.
5. A measuring tape is indispensable.
6. East of Eden is my favorite book.
7. I have no less than four pairs of Chacos.
8. “Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not ‘hike’ through them.” – John Muir
9. I am always prepared.