Meet Jen Roby | Outdoor Field Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jen Roby and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jen, how do you think about risk?
I have come a long way since the adventurous girl living in New York City. Upon moving to Denver I was able to take more trips to the outdoors and quickly realized I was actually now experiencing true nature. I began my small art business the day I returned from my first summit of a Colorado 14er mountain. I had little experience in altitudes this high, and wanted to be prepared when going up Mount Elbert. I downloaded all the routes and apps that would help me get there, and immediately found my new addiction upon summiting. The air was so clean, and with it, my mind & spirit.

I immediately got to researching the other mountains, their class rankings, distance from Denver. That was when the Colorado 14er Poster was created. At the time, nobody was creating 14er art, aside from myself and two artists. I was so proud of my landscape design and it quickly took off via Etsy. When climbing these peaks, there is a high risk due to weather, lack of skills and mostly lack of preparation. I read about all the deaths on Longs Peak, Capitol, and honesty felt like I would never be ready to climb those. So I used my infographic 14er poster to limit my risk and build up from class 1 to class 5. In two short seasons I was able to bag all 58 peaks, while promoting mountain safety.

Forward a few years later and I found myself expanding my art shop to other iconic Colorado posters. From ski resorts, hot springs and even the Colorado Trail, I found myself designing whatever activity I was interested in. Turns out I love type 2 fun, and I am chasing high risk, high reward adventures. It wasn’t until a near-death experience on the Colorado Trail that I began to reassess how I pick these adventures.

I completed the entire 540mile bike pack across 75,000 elevation gain feeling none the wiser. That was in August of 2024 and since then I have taken a step back from the risky challenges to gain perspective as to why I am driven to them. After sitting out a season I am excited to find myself passionately driven back to these mountains. They are a big part of why people flock to this beautiful state, and I am so grateful I have not let fear keep me from taking risks. Not sure what my next big art project will be, but in the meantime I will continue climbing new heights.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I do what I design, and I design what I do. I am so inspired by the Colorado Outdoors that I created a unique way of viewing these bucket list items. What began as a way of conquering all the summits turned into a small community of like-minded individuals who are passionate about the mountains. My Colorado poster series has recently expanded to individual watercolor, and textured art commissions.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If a friend landed in Denver, I would start by taking them to Union Station, grab a coffee at Huckleberry in the Dairy Block, then mosey over to RiNO Art district to tour them around the grunge graffiti streets. Dinner at Barcelona Wine bar and maybe a concert at Mission Ballroom or Red Rocks. After showing them the four neighborhoods I used to live in – I would tour them around Evergreen, where I used to live in a small cabin. We would hike Mount Morrison for sunrise and get a view of the city from afar, and build up an appetite for some BBQ at switchback smokehouse. Depending on how much time we have I would then take them to Mount Sherman in Fairplay. This is the shortest 14er mountain that I always recommend as an introduction. Afterwards soak in my least favorite hot spring in Idaho Springs.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shoutout to the entire 14er Mountaineer community – without your encouragement I would have never made my first art sale.

Website: https://nomadnoplans.com

Instagram: nomadnoplans

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenroby/

Image Credits
all my own images