Upcoming Events With Emily
About Emily
Artist, creative director, holistic healthcare practitioner, and horticulturist based in Wonder Valley, California.
My work centers on a tactile relationship with spirit, by way of place: researching foraged mineral pigments through Wonder Mountain Color, hosting creative residencies and cabin stays at Wonder Mountain Open Source Space, offering Ayurvedic consultations with You Joy Life, and facilitating somatic rewilding and nervous system care through EOS Practice.
A longtime exhibitor and educator with studio features in the New York Times, Architectural Digest, and Kinfolk, I lead somatic land-based classes teaching rituals rooted in presence, curiosity, and deep earth listening, along with historical pigment processing and plein air study in Wonder Valley, CA— just outside of Joshua Tree National Park.
∆ Join Me At An In-Person Event
Join me for Experience, Observe, Share in person! EOS ‘Desert Rain Resonance’ is an internal, somatic mindfulness journey and guided visualization leading participants into the vivid sensory field of recent rain in the Wonder Valley basin.
Emily will use voice, sound, and sensory imagery to lead everyone into the feeling of the high desert after rainfall, followed by quiet, reflective automatic writing on paper. Emily will be available until 7 pm for paid 1:1 sessions - ($45 exchange) with a 30 min desert mineral meditation, guidance in automatic writing, and a special desert botanical/mineral keepsake following this free group session at the store.
Date & Time
Wed, Nov 11—1:30 PM - 2:15 PM PDT
Location
Paint the Desert with the Desert: Make Earth Mineral Color with an Artist
First class on Nov 21!
Settle into the wide desert expanse of Wonder Valley for an intimate, land-based natural pigment workshop with Emily of Wonder Mountain Color hosted on private land just a 15-minute drive from Joshua Tree National Park. The workshop takes place outdoors on a sheltered, covered patio at my art studio.
In our 2.5-hour hands-on session, you will learn the pre-industrial craft to transform raw desert minerals into archival watercolor paint:
Welcome & Botanical Tea: Arrive, meet with Emily, and ground your senses with a cup of iced wild desert herbal tea made with local aquifer water.
Desert Mineral Lore: Examine raw Mojave mineral specimens—including red hematite, pink rhyolite, and yellow limonite—while exploring geological histories, traditional uses, and ethical land stewardship.
Stone Crushing & Levigation: Try crushing minerals by hand with a mortar and pestle, followed by a demonstration of water levigation to separate fine pigment from coarse grit.
Hand-Mull Mineral Paint: Transform pure mineral pigments on heavy glass slabs using handheld glass mullers, mix with custom natural binders (acacia sap, honey, and vegetable glycerin), and bottle your fresh paint in a keepsake sample jar to take with you.
Wash Walk & Plein Air Art: Take an easy walk into the open desert wash to paint panoramic mountain horizons using the earth beneath your feet. This walk is suitable for all ages and skill levels; please note that due to natural loose sand and uneven terrain, the wash is not ADA-compliant.
Studio Details: Return to the patio to bottle your paint, give your custom color its own name, and dry your finished watercolor paper study to take home.
Group Size, Materials & Takeaways: Capped at 4 guests per session to maintain quiet focus and a dedicated workspace. All materials and tools are provided. Each participant takes home a sample jar of one freshly mulled earth mineral paint color, along with their own painted landscape study on 100% cotton watercolor paper.
Optional Studio Add-On: Extend your time on the land with an optional soak in our private, hand-carved granite mineral spring soaking tub on the property. Can accommodate up to 4 guests for an additional fee. Please contact us directly for availability and booking details.
Learn about earth mineral pigments & make paint. Walk the landscape with me to capture wide Wonder Valley horizons en plein air. A special 2.5 hour Airbnb Experience.