Resident combines passion for art, animals

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By LAUREN ROMANO

VIEW STAFF WRITER

When Anne Johnson returned to the Southwest after spending 10 years in the Midwest working as an architect, she was startled by how much of the desert had disappeared.

"I wanted to do work that heightens people's awareness of the desert," she said.

The Centennial Hills resident took her love of art and her concern for the environment and started PassionFly, an eco-friendly stationery company.

Johnson, an Arizona native, began by spending time in the desert, sketching creatures and scenery.

"I didn't want an exact replica," Johnson said. "It is fine art as opposed to a reproduction."

She decided on a few images and turned a kitchen cart into a homemade screen printing press.

"I printed these and took a bunch to Santa Fe, N.M.," Johnson said. "I went store to store and gallery to gallery."

Johnson said while trying to sell the first group of the handmade collection she learned the price was set a little too high. In order to bring the price down the original hand drawn artwork has been digitalized and the cards are now printed at Desert Diecutting, 4851 W. Hacienda Ave.

"The cards are embossed for a tactile experience and you can really feel the ink laid on them," Johnson said.

The cards are made of 50 percent recycled paper and 50 percent non-tree fiber material.

"We need to look at renewable fibers like hemp and kenaf," Johnson said.

The ink used on the cards is soy based, not petroleum based. Soy ink is a kind of ink made from soybeans. As opposed to traditional petroleum-based ink, soy-based ink is more environmentally friendly, available in brighter colors, improves the life span of the printers and makes it easier to recycle paper.

The back of each card has educational information about the critters, their habitats and why they are important.

"I am really drawn to the little guys," Johnson said. "I think everything matters but these guys get overlooked. They are small and the range of environmental conditions they have to respond to is vast."

Johnson's second collection will be about ocean animals. She said the shoreline ecosystems, like the desert ecosystems, are at risk.

"The shorelines are fragile. I wanted to move towards the coast," she said.

Johnson has made the first of what she hopes will be an annual donation to Nature Conservatory of Nevada. Her donation is marked for the Muddy River project.

The Muddy River is one of the most biologically rich areas in Nevada, providing habitat for four rare and endemic fish species, seven species of rare invertebrates, numerous rare and declining bird species, as well as Mojave Desert riparian mesquite and wetlands habitat.

The Muddy River lies about 60 miles northeast of Las Vegas, and begins a series of thermal springs in the Moapa Valley before reaching Lake Mead. Prior to construction of Hoover Dam, it flowed into the Virgin River just upstream of the confluence of the Virgin and Colorado Rivers.

The Muddy River Project is aimed at protecting and restoring a critical Mojave Desert aquatic ecosystem, forging working relationships between public and private stakeholders and helping ensure the success of the Clark County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan.

The cost for a set of five cards ranges from $12.50 to $14 and a set of eight gift enclosures is $10.

PassionFly products can be purchased at the Red Rock Canyon Visitors center or online at www.getpassionfly.com.