Meet Ash Eichner Pendell | Moon Mama LLC founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ash Eichner Pendell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ash, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I was working at a job that did not appreciate my time and energy. I realized one day that I needed to leave the job that was draining my spirit for myself and for my family. I put my whole self into my work and at the end of the day I was not feeling fulfilled but completely drained and depressed. If I can help it, I will never work for anyone else again. I decided it was time to start living as my authentic, weird, arty, nature loving self. I went to school to be an Art Educator but alway had naturally used art as therapy. Gardening and nature has also always been a therapeutic experience for me. I decided to get certified as an Art Therapy Practitioner as well as a certified in Horticultural therapies. Through my own depression and anxiety healing journey I learned things that were helping me and I wanted to share this with others as they walked their path of healing. Art, whether it be painting, sculpting, or writing poetry has always been a lifeline for me. I wanted to invite others into the healing benefits of slowing down and getting in touch with our creative side. Doing that naturally brings you into your inner child’s space which is awesome because we all need more play in our lives. I pursued a career as a creative person because I know I can not survive any other way.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Moon Mama LLC is all about healing through the practice of meditation, connecting with nature, and nourishing our creativity. Moon Mama LLC is also all about modern, inclusive spiritual wellness. That means that I believe that everyone should have safe and affordable access to the healing benefits of art and nature. I hope to provide that space for us all. 🌿🌙🍄🏳️‍🌈💗 I am a person with many interests. I wanted to find a way to incorporate my love of art, nature, and meditation into one place so I could share the healing benefits with more people. I have always been a painter but struggled with the medium of watercolors because I could not control what was happening in my painting. In college, I actually hated watercolors and set them aside for a long time. Once I started to really work on my connection to self I picked up watercolors as a way to relax and soothe my nervous system. I totally fell in love with their dreamy, ethereal movement. Pigment swirling and dancing in water. It stopped being about creating something I could sell and became more about the creative process. Finally! I had always trivialized my artistic side. I thought I had to be a good capitalist to equal a successful artist. I use watercolors in my Creative Meditations now because it freed me and I want it to help free others from the “supposed tos”. I now regularly paint with watercolors and make art because it feels good inside my body. I love making miniatures. I have always been a friend to the fairies and now as an adult my little self would be so proud of, I make miniatures for fairy gardens and just to make something tiny and cute. I make Moss Spirits inspired by tiny little mounds of moss I meet, Garden Ghosts to remind people of the magic that our gardens bring into our lives, and other nature inspired miniatures like my Mushroom and Crystals series. I hope my artwork inspires people to look for the magic in life. It is all around! I offer nature hikes to inspire others too.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would definitely take a friend along for a hike through our local gem, Draper Houston Meadows Preserve. This preserve is home to two unique tree species, the Michigan Paw Paw tree and the Kentucky Coffee tree. The Paw Paw is a beautiful tree native to Michigan with a unique fruit that looks like a banana and a mango had a baby. The leaves of the trees are large and stand out boldly in the preserve throughout the year but especially in the Autumn when they are bright yellow. The Kentucky Coffee tree is a neat tree because it most likely was established here in our preserve from Mammoths moving through the area long ago. The tree itself has neat bark that reminds me of Mr. Snuffleupagus. The preserve also has its very own Beaver family living there. I had the honor of seeing the Beavers hard at work on their lodge. Our Spring bird and wildflower populations are getting ready to shine in the preserve so we would have to check them out along with the cool mushrooms that call the preserve home. I would take my friend to check out the conservatory at Hidden Lake Gardens and hang out in the trees on their Sky Walk. I would then bust out the watercolor paints so we could sit and paint by the lake. We would then have a nice afternoon tea at the British Tea Room in Tecumseh.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have to give credit to one of my all time favorite authors, Robin Wall Kimmerer. Her book Braiding Sweetgrass became like a guide for me when I first picked it up at Crazy Wisdom bookstore in Ann Arbor in 2013. She spoke about plants, animals, and nature in a language I understood to my core. She encouraged me to get loud about my advocacy for our natural world. I found a clear mission from her work. If we get people to empower themselves with even just basic education about our natural land, plants, and animals they will begin to understand, connect, and appreciate it all more. That empowerment and connection will inspire them to stand up for our natural world in places like voting booths and city halls and be good stewards of Mother Earth. Robin’s work inspired me to host a community Seed Swap annually. This will be my third year. It is a way to share, learn, and connect with fellow gardeners. It is always an awesome time. I must also give honorable mention to my friend and mentor, Mr. John Farmer. He is a local biology teacher who retired years ago but continues to educate. He has taught me so much about our local nature preserves, animal populations, and so much more. He inspired me to begin offering nature hikes to my community so I could share all of the information I had learned. It is a ripple effect of love, education, and kindness. And of course I am motivated every day to make this world a better place for my two beautiful children.

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Image Credits
These are all my photos.