Mandy West on "Earning Her Turns" on the Slopes and in the Studio

What makes ordinary objects so unforgettable? For Northern Colorado artist Mandy West, the answer is found in color, memory, and perspective. Her paintings capture the beauty of everyday things—a chair, a Vespa, even a laundry truck—inviting us to pause and see what’s often overlooked.

In this conversation, Mandy shares her journey from doodling bubble letters in exchange for Jolly Ranchers to embracing acrylics as her primary medium. We talk about:

• How backcountry skiing with her husband parallels her creative process (“earning your turns”)
• Why being a boy mom shaped her eye for the ordinary and fueled her creativity
• The role of community, critique, and persistence in developing as an artist
• Practical encouragement for anyone wanting to lean into creativity

You’ll also hear how Mandy integrates memory, family, and even her children’s old handwriting practice sheets into her art. This episode is a reminder that the ordinary moments of life hold extraordinary beauty—if we only stop to see them.

Catch more of the story @thanks.for.doing.that.podcast! 

Transcript

Heather Winchell: Hey, there you are listening to Thanks for doing that, a podcast celebrating people and ideas that make this world a better. Place. I am Heather Winchell, your host and chief enthusiast, and I'm on a mission to bring you conversations that encourage, inspire and delight. So stay tuned for another episode where we explore the things we do, the reasons we do them, and why it matters.

Today I am joined by Mandy West. She is a Northern Colorado based artist that has masterfully found her niche in painting the beauty she sees in everyday life. Her paintings are striking in that they often center on something simple, a well-known Leo, mark, a chair, a camera. But in that simplicity and familiarity there is such depth.

Her work invites all of us into the memories that come when we behold these everyday items. But beyond the canvas, Mandy herself is a beautiful soul inside and out. She's a fellow boy mom, an art teacher, and an avid outdoors woman. And it is my pleasure and privilege to share a conversation with Mandy today.

Mandy, thank you so much for being here. Let's kick off this conversation with a bit about you and what life looks like for you right now. 

Mandy West: Thanks for having me, Heather. I'm excited to be here. 

Heather Winchell: Yeah, and this is fun because Mandy and I are actually in person at my kitchen table. Yes. Which is really cool. So, yeah.

What does life look like for you right now, Mandy? 

Mandy West: Well, I have three boys and we're in the, having a lot of them leave the nest at this point. Um, so I still have one at home, one in college, and one who works and lives outside the home. So it's definitely a season of change for me as I homeschooled the boys and.

N now that season is over. So I'm trying to find what's really next for me. 

Heather Winchell: Yeah, that's great. Yeah. And you and your husband like to spend a lot of time outside, is that right? So camping. Any kind of other outdoorsy activities you enjoy together? 

Mandy West: Yes. Well, probably the thing that we do most together is back country skiing, which is, um, where you.

Ski uphill with skins on your skis, and then you get to the top and you take 'em off and lock in. So you can ski places that nobody else goes. Um, not at a resort, which is nice, but then also a little dodgy sometimes. Yeah, because the, um, 'cause the hills aren't groomed or anything, but it's very beautiful and peaceful and you can go places where other people aren't skiing and, um, and yeah, but we.

I have mountain biked in the past, and I have some friends that I like to hike with too. So. Um, I just like being outside. Yeah. And Colorado's a great place for that. 

Heather Winchell: Oh, it's such a great place for that. 

Mandy West: Yeah. 

Heather Winchell: So the backcountry skiing, that sounds beautiful. Like you said, that also sounds like a workout, like hard work.

Mandy West: Oh, yeah, yeah, 

Heather Winchell: yeah. 

Mandy West: He and Matt, my husband is. He does it way more than I do, and he's very patient when I go with him, and I don't think he gets winded at all when he goes with me. But yeah, you're going uphill. There's less oxygen than normal and it is a lot of work. So it's, we do it every, we go on a trip every year for anniversary, and so it.

Kind of a reward then to go sit in the hot tub afterwards. But yeah, it's definitely a lot of work. You kind of earn your turns. Mm-hmm. So instead of, you know, getting to ride the lift up, you have to work for all of those turns. And sometimes you think, I really haven't climbed that, that high. And then as you're, as you're skiing down, you realize, oh, we went a lot further than I thought.

Yeah. But it's definitely kind of a slow process and we take breaks. He takes breaks for me. 

Heather Winchell: That's really great. Yeah. So you said it, you do it for an anniversary trip. Does that mean your anniversary falls in the Colorado winter? 

Mandy West: Yes. We, uh, got married January 6th, and so we head to Estes every year and try to find a place with a hot tub and ski usually one pretty full day, and then sit in the hot tub a lot.

Heather Winchell: Oh, that's so great. Yeah. I love it. Yeah. We also, we're not quite winter, but we're late. Late fall, like November. Mm-hmm. And so, yeah, it's just fun to meet others that that foray into outdoor cold activities. Yeah. For their anniversary as opposed to like, you know, beach or Right. Beautiful. Yeah. Spring or some summer mountains.

Okay, cool. So Mandy, I would love to just hear a bit about your creative journey. When did you start leaning into your artistic side? 

Mandy West: From very early. I loved to draw and doodle and I remember well when I was little I just drew horses and unicorns and rainbows and such. Uh, we didn't have a tv and so I feel like there were several things that promoted like a very creative lifestyle.

My parents had a huge garden and we were out helping in that a lot. And also, I mean, I grew up in. The eighties and nineties, you know, before screens and whatnot. So I feel really blessed to have had a lot of outdoor time, a lot of space to be creative. And I think probably I, in the fifth grade is when I kind of thought, I think I'm an artist.

Because we had, I had a teacher, Mr. Raven Slug who. We could bring candy as long as it was Jolly Ranchers. 'cause he loved Jolly Ranchers and the only rule was that you had to be able to share with him. That's funny. If he asked for some. Yeah. And my parents were very all natural and kind of granola before it was a thing.

So they were of course like, no, we're not buying candy to take to school. So I kind of started a little side hustle. And withdraw people's names and bubble letters and then draw all their favorite things around it and in exchange for Jolly Ranchers. Oh, 

Heather Winchell: that is so great. Yeah, 

Mandy West: so at first I was doing it just for the girls of the class, and so of course they liked what I liked and that was easy.

Those were things I was familiar with. And then the boys started asking me to do that as well, and they wanted tigers and muscle cars and whatever. And so that was when I really had to. Draw things that were outta my comfort zone and I realized that I could do it, and that was a lot of fun. So then I. I did take a lot of art classes, like in high school, and then I majored in fine art, um, in college, uh, with an emphasis in oil painting.

And of course everybody asked me what I was gonna do with it and I did not know. And, um, then I graduated and was a flight attendant at first, just, you know, for something to do and, uh, kind of. Took a break from actual art, I guess. Uh, my husband and I started a coffee shop, and then I slowly started getting back into it, but painting some murals and stuff locally, um, where we had our coffee shop and then raising the boys.

I always had some little creative venture on the side if it was sewing or jewelry making. Those were things that were a little bit easier to put down. When I needed to change a diaper or make lunch or whatever. And then, um, just in these last few years, I've really had more space to get back to painting and have really enjoyed doing that.

Heather Winchell: Yeah, that's really great. I know that you're no longer primarily making bubble letters with things around it. How has your art evolved over time? 

Mandy West: Um, well first of all, I changed from oil painting to acrylic, partly because of the space I have is really small and. Also, I used to be extremely realistic and I would try to paint a little bit looser.

And then next thing you know, I had the smallest brush and I was putting in every detail. And I feel like acrylic kind of helps me just lay it down and move on and, um, it's easier just to just go back and paint over if I didn't get it right. But it's, uh, been. Pretty helpful in like, and I wouldn't say still that I'm loose.

I'm looser than I was and I used to just, I think before kids, I always just wanted to paint like really beautiful, very complex scenes. And just having kids has helped me, I think, be a much more creative person because I'm just surrounded by. Like just everyday stuff a little more. And I, um, and that's probably what has drawn me into painting the subjects that I have.

Rather than being able to go to Italy and take more source material, I just have to look around my house. Mm-hmm. Or out my front window or whatever, so. Mm-hmm. 

Heather Winchell: Well, I'm personally really thankful for the way that's evolved because like I said, I think that, I think your art just calls out the beauty in a very normal object.

I mean, you know, I recently saw you at. The Wonder Crawl, which for those listening, the Wonder Crawl is just kind of a local event for artisans to sell what they've made kind of on the streets of our downtown, near the river. Um, so I came to the Wonder Crawl. Mm-hmm. I bought a couple of your paintings.

One of them was this chair that I am obsessed with, and so I just, yeah, I'm really, I think it's really cool that that's kind of the space you found yourself in, and I think it's really fun that, that. To you feels connected to your life as a mom. 

Mandy West: Yeah. Yeah. And the, the chairs was, that was a really special, um, kind of epiphany.

I walked into the class where I was teaching the classroom where I taught, and there were these stacks of these molded plastic chairs, and they just, I just had this flood of memories come back from elementary school and sitting in those chairs and moments. You know, I would think about individual students that sat in the different chairs, and that was, yeah.

It's funny because I had a couple people like, what? What's up with chairs? Like, why are you painting chairs? And then at the Wonder Crawl, it was really fun to see. I sold several prints or paintings with those, and people were just like, oh, this makes me think of the fifth grade. And you know, right. So and so, and I just love how evocative it is and how it kind of immediately launches people into a special place of memory.

Heather Winchell: Right? Yeah, absolutely. Well, I'm thankful to have one hanging in my studio. Oh, thanks for bye. For the same reason. Yeah. So who are some of the artists that have inspired you? 

Mandy West: Um, so definitely when I was younger I just loved Monet and Dega and I had. I went, when I moved into my college dorm, I put up this massive poster of water lilies and just the colors, which is interesting 'cause he paints nothing like the way I paint.

Um, and I just, I think I never knew how to. Let go and paint in a more, a more impressionistic manner. But I mean, that was all before the internet and you know, it was just kind of what I had seen in books and whatnot. And now of course there's just a flood of artists that I am have access to probably I really, really love.

There's an artist named Jessica Fields and she actually paints in cold wax. Uh, I think it's. I'm not sure the official name, but um, she paints with a pallet knife and it's just beautiful and. Just buttery and lovely. Like she just does the most beautiful things and I, I just found her on Instagram and I listened to an interview with her and she, the process is just pretty phenomenal.

But the other day I found a painting that she just had done recently of those. Exact chairs that, uh, I really liked. So that was kind of fun to see her take on it. And then another artist that I really like, uh, her name is Caroline Clark, and she does more digital art, but she does a lot of. I don't know, landscapes and kind of southwestern and color.

She's a Colorado artist as well, and I just really like her colors and whatnot. And I actually have two prints of hers in my house, and so that shows you that I like her a lot. 

Heather Winchell: Yeah. Very cool. I'm so intrigued. I will have to look into Jessica Fields because I can't. I can't even get my mind around what painting with cold wax 

Mandy West: I know would look like.

Yeah. You, she somehow mixes it with the pigment. It's a really phenomenal process. And, um, and she said that she was always trying to push herself to try something very difficult. And, and I mean, man, to me it. 

Heather Winchell: Hard. Yeah. But I haven't tried it before. Is that, is that something she came up with or is that like a known art form?

No, it's, yeah, it's a known, 

Mandy West: known art form. 

Heather Winchell: Okay. I think that's the thing that just really intrigues me, the deeper down the rabbit hole of kind of like painting and creativity that I go. I think I always just kind of assumed that there were maybe like five mediums Yeah. That people painted with or played with.

Mm-hmm. But there's just so many ways that people even integrate different mediums into the same piece, and I just. Yeah, that has been a really fascinating element for me of just kind of leaning more into my own artistic side is just seeing, wow, there are all kinds of creative ways to, to mix color and to mix.

Mandy West: That's so true. 

Heather Winchell: Textures and so very cool. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so what are some of your go-to tools in the studio and why? 

Mandy West: Um, well. My, probably my favorite thing is, is just a palette, a stay wet palette. Mm-hmm. Which I, you know, Colorado is so dry and. My art studio doesn't have air conditioning, so in all of the warmer months I usually have the windows open and acrylic paint just grow dries out so fast, and even when I would try putting like plastic wrap over it, it just would be dry when I would come back to it next time.

So if, if you have to stop in the middle of a painting and you've mixed up a certain color, the next time I would come back it would be dry. And this palette just has. Like a kinda a sponge on the bottom and then you use like a paper for the palette that is really thick and it kind of, the moisture comes from underneath.

And it's been honestly just life altering for my painting just 'cause I can have the same. Batch of paint out there for almost two weeks and then there's a plastic lid that goes over the top of it. So that has been like really, really helpful and made acrylic painting a lot more doable. 'cause of course I was used to oil painting that would stay wet forever.

And I mean, honestly, my art studio is like such a blessing. Like I know that's not really a tool, but. Just having this space. I used to paint at the kitchen table and you know, every meal I'd have to clean up and it's, uh, I so admire artists who don't have that space and they still make it happen because I just really struggled with that.

Mm-hmm. But my dad, uh, built that for me and our, my backyard a few years ago and is. Such a sweet space, so 

Heather Winchell: that's very cool. Yeah, I, I didn't even know that. A self wedding palette or whatever you called it. Yeah. I didn't even know that existed. How 

Mandy West: cool. I know. I feel like I was really late on the game too.

And um, then one of an artist that I heard in a podcast talked about it. I'm like, what is this? I have to see what this is. Yeah. And it's been really great. 

Heather Winchell: Cool. Yeah. Very cool. So you, you kind of spoke to this a bit earlier, but I am curious how your life as a boy mom has shaped your art. You know, has this been an endeavor that your family has been involved in to some extent?

Or is this something that was maybe more of like a reprieve from the life grind? That's a good 

Mandy West: question. Mm. Um. Like I said, when they were growing up, I primarily did um, like jewelry making and sewing and I had some friends that we would do craft and art fairs together and they are all three very artistic and even when I was making jewelry, they would kind of.

Be looking over my shoulder going, are you gonna use that bead? Or, you know, like, so they would be interested in what I was doing. And um, that's probably the only negative thing about my art shed is that I'm not in the main flow of the house and so someone has to like. Intentionally come visit me and check on my painting.

And so it's funny because even my boys who live when they were like my middle who was home for the summer and my youngest, a lot of times they'd see my painting for the first time on Instagram. And I'm like, all you have to do is come outside. But they're, like I said, they're all three artistic and they have a lot of opinions about it.

And uh, like I said, I think they've made me more artistic and creative. I think I paint. Kind of masculine things sometimes, like I have, one of my favorite paintings that I've done is of those laundry trucks. And I think, you know, when you're a boy mom, you get used to looking at firetrucks and trains and, and so I think that I've come to appreciate.

You know, the beauty in machinery, uhhuh and whatnot. And so that's probably how that plays into it. But 

Heather Winchell: yeah, that's a really interesting insight, Mandy. Yeah. What would you say is the most non-conventional tool or element that you use in your paintings? Or have you used? 

Mandy West: I think probably I used my son's like handwriting workbooks.

From when they were homeschooled, I just could not bring myself to throw them away. 'cause the sweet little letters and they always doodled off to the side. And so I saved all those and I thought, well if nothing else, I'll just use it as scrap paper and at least I'll get to see 'em. You know, well then I did actually, it was for the cover of the last every little seed magazine.

Mm-hmm. I did a collage and I used some of that paper in, in that collage. And that's fun. So, I mean, you may not, most people may not even be able to see it, but you can kind of see the little dotted line and some letters on it, but it's. Like really special to me just to not have thrown it away and to get glimpses of it and remember that time of life.

Heather Winchell: Oh, that's so great. Yeah. So for anybody that has the rooted issue of every little seed, there's a little Easter egg of like your kids handwriting. Yeah. Oh, that's so great. That's great. I'll have to pull mine out and look for that specifically. And actually, this is kind of a tangent, but because you said you homeschooled your boys.

Mm-hmm. And you said that in that season your creativity looked like a lot of things that you could pick up and put down as you needed to. Mm-hmm. Did you have structured time? Like did you kind of build in time to be able to create, or was it more loose and you were like, you know, if I get to it, I get to it, but it wasn't something that was every day or planned.

Mandy West: Yeah, they were always painting and. Like I said, they're all three artistic, and of course, since I am an artist. They're all know a lot about art, not as much about science, but you know, and so it would, I would a lot of times just join them because we would, a lot of times when I would read, we would get paints and stuff out and they would just paint or draw on their sketchbook, and I would often join in on that.

But no, I never. I think probably it was super helpful that I did do those art shows with sewing and jewelry making, because you kind of just have to get it done. But I've never been good at scheduling. Time and being like really intentional with that. But I would think, I would know. I have an art show coming up and I'm a night owl, so a lot of times after I would get the boys down, then I would sew or make jewelry at night and trying to get it all finished and ready, but yeah.

Mm-hmm. So I just fit it in. 

Heather Winchell: Yeah. What about with your husband? Is he, would you call him a creative, does he enjoy engaging that process? Is he one of your. First levels of critique or giving you feedback on a piece? 

Mandy West: Oh yeah, he, well, he actually is a graphic designer. Oh, okay. And very artistic and I'll. Like really a great artist.

So yeah, it's funny because he's always been my first person to go for feedback and I now appreciate it. But I didn't use to, 'cause he's brutally honest and I thought, oh, this isn't good for our marriage for me to be, because I would be kind of defensive at first. But now I'm so thankful that he doesn't just.

Go. Oh, that's great. You know, he's like, what's wrong with this area? You know? And it's been super helpful, as much as I haven't appreciated it. But I did realize at a certain point that I can't put this on him. That's a really heavy thing to ask, you know, constantly. And he, he doesn't paint. He could if he wanted to, but he's more of a digital artist, and so.

When I would kind of be coming to him for help, he'd be like, I don't know Mandy, I don't paint. But he has a really great eye for composition and design and so he is a really good person to ask. And I, I have a critique group now, and also the fellow artist. That, um, that I've gotten to meet lately, and that's been super helpful to not just have him as my only feedback, so.

Mm-hmm. 

Heather Winchell: Yeah. You know, to the point of what you said about other local artists in your critique group, it seems to me that we have a high saturation of really gifted artists in this area. Is that normal or would you say? I 

Mandy West: don't know. I mean, I have, I've only lived in a couple other places, but I wasn't, you know, created.

Sure. Creating like consistently at that point. But I really think you're right. And I mean, I just look at all the things there are for artists to get involved in, you know, the art walk and there's art week and there's the outdoor, um, art, um, like pianos and stuff. And I really do feel like Fort Collins is a blessed area in that way, and that even there's time and money and all sorts of things allocated to make it.

A good place for artists to be. 

Heather Winchell: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, like I said, I feel like I've had the opportunity in the past year or so to be around more artists and to kind of see how their work progresses. And I think something that I've appreciated about getting to know the process is that a piece rarely ever just ends up the way that you want it to the first go around, right?

Mm-hmm. Like I think, I think I always thought that people would sit down and just out of them would come, whatever it is Yeah. That they create. Right. Um. I thought it was like a once and done thing, but I'm finding that's not really the case. And actually, you know, you mentioned Rooted and how many mockups or how many like different versions of, did you do that before you landed on I did 

Mandy West: five full paintings before, yeah.

I switched to the collage idea and yeah, it's, it is definitely a process and I'm really still trying to. Not feel like that that process is wasted time. 

Heather Winchell: Right. 

Mandy West: And recognize that it's all part of it. And if I hadn't have done those five paintings, I wouldn't have gotten that idea for the collage. And you even don't, where you land is not where you stay anyway.

You continue to evolve. But like my favorite artists usually didn't start doing immediately what they're doing now, you know? Right. It's, they changed over time and, but it all kind of informed their present art. Right. 

Heather Winchell: Right. So it seems like in that there would, there would be a high value for.

Appreciating the process over the product necessarily? Yes or yes. But I am wondering, 'cause that that can honestly be a little defeating or I would, I would think I'd maybe just wanna be like, I'm so done with this. Yeah. So what keeps you going when you maybe wanna give up or are done with it? 

Mandy West: I think probably hearing other artists talk about their journey.

There's an artist named Melissa Lakey, who I just love. She does the most. Like fun, whimsical, like desert paintings. And she started out like really realistic, which I'm sure that art was beautiful as well. But, uh, she took a full year and just took classes and drew her sketchbook. And almost every artist that I hear from.

Usually had just like a time of exploration that they, um, especially if they are doing something that is pretty unique and not, not downplaying realistic, but you know, if they kind of are doing something very different, it took a while to get there. Yeah. And so I think I have to remember, and, and I feel like it's being pounded in my head because every podcast or artist that I listen to, they're like.

You know, it took me five years and I'm like, okay, please not five years. And they talk a lot about painting miles. You know, you have to just kinda like, you have to do scales for music. I think the difference is, is that doing scales is free, but every painting that you do takes money, you know, between paint and canvas and then to just go, okay, what do I do with this?

Is not as great as I want painting know, do I paint over it or do I throw it away or, sure. So I think that's the hard thing is that it's money like that you're using in the meantime. 

Heather Winchell: Yeah, totally. And time. 

Mandy West: Yeah, definitely. 

Heather Winchell: It's funny because I don't know what just came back to mind, is that term you used earn your turns.

Yeah, that's true. That's true. It's kind of the same. Yeah, that's a great analogy. Okay, so let's put on your art teacher hat, because I know that you've taught classes locally and of course you know, even with your boys. Mm-hmm. In a less formal space. What advice would you have for someone that wants to be more creative, but maybe just needs some confidence or encouragement or a starting place?

Mandy West: Hmm. I think probably just play, and that was. When I taught middle school art, um, at a homeschool supplement program here, I, it's hard because you want to give them projects and, you know, you can't just say, let's just play. But on the other hand, I tried to like grade or give feedback based on their growth versus.

The actual product. 'cause there would be some kids who were maybe not as like naturally able to make things look realistic, but they just, and I mean, and that is not the goal with art always, but just that they were trying new things and that they were open to like kind of getting feedback and try doing things differently.

And I mean, I guess like looking at other people's art is very encouraging and motivational, but. Probably don't do that too much. 'cause it can be very discouraging. You know, if you go on Instagram, you're just looking at the best of the best of mm-hmm. What everybody does. And it can be defeating and just try to go back and remember what it was like to play, you know?

Mm-hmm. And then, and then if you do that, I think you'll kind of know, I wanna do this, I want to paint like this. And then you can kind of explore and develop your skills in that area, and not necessarily copy somebody else, but you know. Take your skills and find your own style with it. Mm-hmm. So, 

Heather Winchell: mm-hmm.

Is there a particular medium you would encourage people to start dabbling with first? Mm, 

Mandy West: good question. I mean, honestly like, well, pencils and, I mean, that's obviously the easiest and, but, uh, sometimes it's kind of restricting, you know, so just, I mean, I think. Honestly, GU is one of my favorite. I think it is so fun.

I've never liked watercolor just because you have to think ahead and like really map out your whites. But I think Guash is a super fun, kind of underrated medium because it's opaque, but it's not as heavy or kind of hard to. Wheeled as acrylic or oil, and you can do it on paper. So you could do it in a sketchbook, and then you just flip the page.

And a lot of I, that would probably be something else I would recommend is keeping a sketchbook. Mm. And there's something that's less precious when it's in a book. You just, like I said, flip the page onto the next one, but also keep all those instead of throwing them away so you can see your journey.

Mm-hmm. And see how you've developed, because I think that's the important thing. Uh, also to see where you've grown mm-hmm. Rather than still looking at the pie in the sky of somebody else's, you know, 20 years of going, well, I'm not there yet, but also you're not where you used to be, you know? Right. 

Heather Winchell: So, right.

Yeah. I, so a few years ago I bought my Boise sketchbook with the hope that they would see over time, like, oh, wow. Yeah, look at the difference. Um, and they all, you know, had a strong start in their various. You know, playing in degrees of skill or whatever. And then actually I think most of those sketchbooks turned into sticker books, so now they just like put stickers in them.

But we recently, I took them to Jerry's Art drama, which is a local art supply store, and we recently revived. They were like, mom, let's get another sketchbook. Oh, not for stickers, but for actual like play. And so we got a new one and that's the, keeping it in there is something I'm really still trying to get them to do because.

Yeah. You know, we have a wall of wonder in our house, so anytime they make anything, they tear it out and they're like, let's put this up. You know? Yeah. But I'm hopeful that we can get into a rhythm of keeping it in the book, letting them see over time mm-hmm. The things that interested them or the things that, the ways that their art has grown.

But it is, yeah. I've, I've personally started a sketchbook, and I'm not quite at the place where I'm like, oh, wow, look, I'm growing Uhhuh. I'm just at the place where I'm trying to like. Not treat it as precious and do something right. But yeah. I 

Mandy West: love that you're doing that. Yeah. 

Heather Winchell: So very cool. Well, um, okay, so I have some other fun questions I want to kind of wrap up our time with, but before we do that, I'd love to just point people towards where can they see your art?

Where could they purchase your art? Um, where can they find you? 

Mandy West: So probably the best place to get an overview of my art is. At my Instagram. Okay. Which is Mandy West Foco, FOCO for Fort Collins. And then I have an Etsy site. And this is probably common to artists, but the administrative part of things is not my forte.

So I have, you know, one painting that sold out and I still haven't put more on there. And so there, that's where you can purchase a few things. But I am working on getting my Etsy. Site up and then also hopefully a website soon. But that would all probably, I would let people know that on Instagram. 

Heather Winchell: Sure.

So, okay. So Mandy, we're just gonna close out with some fun questions, okay? Okay. I would love to know what is your favorite way to spend a Saturday? 

Mandy West: Oh man. Um. Just to not be in a hurry in the morning and sit and drink my cup of coffee. I would love to go on a bike ride or a hike even, and then probably find some time to paint.

Mm-hmm. And then have dinner with my whole family, ideally. But you know, at this season we're kind of scattered, but that would be my ideal. 

Heather Winchell: Okay. Couple of follow up questions. Mm-hmm. Is there a certain place that you're enjoying your coffee? 

Mandy West: Well, my deck. Okay. Yeah. It's just my happy place. And. It's right now it's perfect 'cause it's in the shade, Uhhuh in the morning.

So that would probably be more 

Heather Winchell: awesome. And then a second follow up question. If you're having dinner altogether as a family, are you cooking something at home and are you doing that? Is your husband, are you all doing it together? 

Mandy West: No, I would, I would be doing it. My, um, my oldest Tristan is a fantastic cook, but, uh.

I, I feel like I deep down in a Italian mom, 'cause I just love putting piles of food on a table and which has behooved me because I have three boys who are all Yeah, like big and big eaters and very active and so they eat a lot of food. But uh, that brings me great joy to cook for them and to feed them.

Heather Winchell: Yeah. Well, and we have benefited from your like, Italian mom, inner person because. When I, when we went through a significant season of like back to back str, you showed up with, I mean, enough pizza crusts for several meals and all the toppings we would need to make any kind of interesting pizza you could think of as well as this.

Giant dish of baked nochi, which was amazing, so, oh, 

Mandy West: I'm glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, I feel like I don't know how to cook small. I'm starting to learn again. But, um, I mean, I was at the height of the boys, you know, all three being at home, I was cooking, you know, like four pounds of meat of whatever. And then along with the sides, and so now I'm down to one consistently at home.

And since. Not everybody loves leftovers and I don't wanna eat them all myself. I'm learning to dial that back down. 

Heather Winchell: Wow. Yeah. That's great. Okay, so if you, if you could only pick one artist to fill the walls of your home with, which I know that's hard, it's so hard, but who would it be and why? 

Mandy West: Man, it would probably be, um, Jessica Fields, the one that I mentioned earlier, just because.

Uh, she just has so much color and her pieces and she has such a variety. She does a lot of still lives and landscapes, so I feel like, you know, it wouldn't all look just the same. Mm-hmm. 

Heather Winchell: Cool. 

Mandy West: Yeah. 

Heather Winchell: Another artist that we both love holds international art classes in the summer. If you had an international art class, where would you go?

Mandy West: Well, I think this is easy. I would go to Italy. Okay. I did a semester abroad in Tuscany, and that is still just one of the most like special times of my life. Mm-hmm. I met my best, one of my best friends then, and it was just so fun and yeah, it's so inspirational. And so, yeah, Italy, Northern Italy. 

Heather Winchell: Okay, cool.

So I want you to picture yourself in Northern Italy sitting at a cafe and you're going to pick an object. To paint in your typical Mandy West style? What's the object? 

Mandy West: Oh man. Um, probably a Vespa. 

Heather Winchell: Okay, great. Which I've 

Mandy West: done a lot and I don't wanna overdo it, but they just make me happy and I love seeing people scoot around on 'em, Uhhuh and you know, they're so colorful and yeah, they just, to me, I don't know, speak joy.

Heather Winchell: That's wonderful. I love it. Vespas feel like a very fun and playful thing to don't they, to capture. Yeah. Alright, so now I would like to invite you to give your own shout out. Who would you want to tell thanks for doing that and why? 

Mandy West: So, my very good friend Rachel Doyle is a part of a. Like filmmaking company called Rough Diamond Films and they like, they're a small production company and they make independent films while training up young filmmakers.

And there's several people who are involved. But her brother-in-law, Brian Hudkins, is a film teacher at Hardy University in Arkansas. And then Rachel is doing screenwriting and they are just like really trying to teach. You know, young people how to tell stories through film and it's a nonprofit at this point, and, um, and they.

I think this summer they took a break. Her son got married and it was very busy, but last summer, they just would bring all sorts of people in and make these films and, you know, do all the food for 'em and, and just they both, both Brian and Rachel just have such beautiful hearts for storytelling and loving on people and encouraging young people.

So it's just a really neat, um, organization and they're both very creative. Yeah, I like their style. 

Heather Winchell: Very cool. Alright, so now we're at the point of the episode where I get to share the haiku that I've written for you. Oh, yay. Which actually, I think I've maybe written you a few haikus, like birthday haikus and things like that, but this is different because this is the capturing why I wanted to have you on the show.

Mm-hmm. This is what I've written for you, Mandy. Thanks for doing that. Making the ordinary a thing of beauty. Oh, thanks Heather. You're so welcome. Oh, I really appreciate that. Yeah. And I really, really appreciate you taking the time to come and sit with me and host this conversation. And yeah, just really enjoy you and what you put into the world, so thank you.

Mandy West: Thank you so much. I  feel honored to be here with you.

Heather Winchell: Thanks for doing that. Is presented to you by the apiary, a place for beholding and becoming, and thank you for joining us for today's episode. Before you go, I have a couple of invitations. If you found it meaningful, could I invite you to take two minutes to rate and review the show? I also invite you to help me create an upcoming episode of thanks for doing that by nominating someone or suggesting a topic.

Let's link arms to call out the good and the beautiful that we see around us because I really believe that finding delight in our divided and difficult world could make all the difference.