Landscape painter Kate Thayer doesn’t just recognize earth tones. “All colors are in nature if we really see,” she says. But that kind of deep looking can usually only be done solo. The mountains, forests, and rivers of Western North Carolina form the collective muse for Thayer’s work. “Walking in the snow, rain, or sun-filled woods recharges me,” she says. Later, “creating something with my hands that can be shown to others is a way of giving back what nature has given me … and the process provides me with a connection to the natural world.”