We had the good fortune of connecting with Lake & Carolyn McCullough and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lake & Carolyn, what inspires you?
Mother and daughter team Carolyn and Lake are both inspired by the natural environment surrounding Pagosa Springs Colorado. Carolyn moved here in 1980, and Lake was born and raised here. Her earliest memories involve walking through the forest, collecting leaves, mushrooms, and bits of lichen.

Carolyn uses these natural components in her artwork, but over the years Lake has taken a different approach. Fascinated by chemistry and gardening, she combines these pursuits to do small-scale chemistry labs on garden plants… with the result of herbal therapeutic products.

We are both inspired by making things, getting our hands dirty, and by the sensory richness of working with raw ingredients.
 

What should our readers know about your business?
We opened in May 2010, featuring Carolyn’s “Whimsical but Meaningful” artwork and Lake’s hand-concocted herbal lotions & potions. Fourteen years later, we are busier than ever. We still make everything by hand, and have decided to keep life simple by not having employees, so every product in the store represents a piece of our own time, energy, and attention.

We are very proud of this aspect of what we do. The herbal products include teas, tincture extracts, soaps and balms. They begin with raw leaves, roots, and flowers, many of which Lake harvests in the mountains. Then she infuses the ingredients into oil for balms, or organic alcohol to make tinctures.

Carolyn’s artwork also begins with raw ingredients – a lump of clay or a palette of paint or a yard of blank silk. She explores many different media and techniques, always keeping nature as a main theme.

The first five years of the business definitely weren’t what we would call easy…sales were slow and we let go of some of our more idealistic hopes about community involvement. The interesting thing is that now, we have more community involvement than we can keep up with! We teach classes and participate in art fairs, and Lake leads a summer native plant identification series. The 20-person group limit is easily maxed-out for every plant tour, reaching an estimated 120 people throughout the season.

One lesson that stands out is the necessity of humility. We try to be approachable by a wide variety of people from a variety of backgrounds, and we let our products speak for themselves. We keep prices affordable, and our hope is that customers feel free to try things they’ve never had before, feel free to experiment and take a chance.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The best feature of Pagosa Springs is the mountains! First off, I would recommend Chimney Rock National Monument, which features guided tours or unstructured hikes to 900-year-old Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites and some of the most unique geology in Pagosa country. Other favorite backcountry hikes will bring us from the high desert to mountaintops, with plenty of unique native plants to look at along the way.

Depending on the season, whitewater rafting through Pagosa Outside Adventures is quite exciting. Fun local shops include Two Old Crows Gallery and Rainbow Gifts, a rock and mineral emporium. The weekend Artisans Market is always fun to browse, especially after breakfast and coffee at Pagosa Baking Company.

After a day outdoors, the Overlook Hotsprings are great for a quick soak. Dinner at Thai Pagosa and mocktails at The Neon Mallard would be a perfect finish for the day.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Without question, the shoutout goes to my mom Carolyn! It was my idea to open Earthsense, but every step of the way is made possible by her support and balancing influence.

Website: www.earthsensepagosa.com

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