Artist Gary L Hightshoe | Rutted White Coffee Mug

from $16.00
Some mornings call for stillness. This is one of them. On the George Rogers Farm in Cascade, Iowa — 440 rolling acres that were never quite right for row crops but perfectly suited for 100 head of stock cows — a thunderstorm had just passed. The lane was dark and muddy, curving and rutted, the puddles still catching the sky. Gary L Hightshoe stood there, captivated, and drew what he saw. Not just a barn built in 1907. Not just a cattle shelter. A whole life. A whole Iowa. Get a little rutted in your morning routine — some ruts are worth settling into. Gary L. Hightshoe is an Emeritus Professor of Landscape Architecture at Iowa State University, where he taught plant materials, planting design, and landscape resource management for more than 47 years. Over the course of nearly half a century, his colleagues, clients, students, and family have known him by many names — the Tree Whisperer, the Grandfather of the Prairie, the Godfather of Savanna Studio — and every one of them fits. A lifelong conservationist, ecologist, historian, illustrator, hunter, angler, photographer, and artist, Gary is the author and illustrator of two landmark works: Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines for Rural and Urban America and North American Plantfile — books that continue to shape the field of landscape architecture. His most enduring legacy, however, may be Savanna Studio at Iowa State: the only traveling landscape architecture studio of its kind in the world. Over two decades, Gary led more than 1,000 students out from behind their desks and into the field — to the Boundary Waters, Yellowstone, Theodore Roosevelt, the Badlands, and beyond — because, as he has always believed, "you can't develop a relationship with the landscape from behind a desk." Gary loves the great White Oak, the Pagoda and Flowering Dogwood, and any native prairie forb. His granddaughters will tell you he is decidedly not a fan of petunias, lilacs, or red-leafed varieties. And he has spent a lifetime restoring 40 acres of never-tilled original Iowa land — wetland, prairie, and forest — to the way it was always meant to be. "Long after we've come and gone, a tree still stands." — Gary L. Hightshoe Gary L. Hightshoe is one of five Kate Shu Collective STAR Resident Artists and a treasured member of the Monarch Shoppe family. His mugs are an invitation — to hold something handcrafted, to slow down, and to remember that the land has stories worth telling. About this Mug: • Available in 11 oz, 15 oz, and 20 oz • Premium white gloss finish • Printed using dye sublimation technology — the image is fused directly into the ceramic surface for vivid, true-to-life color that won't fade, crack, or peel. Ever. • Handle stays cool even when your coffee is boiling • Microwave and dishwasher safe • Print quality is exceptional — exactly as pictured
Size:
Some mornings call for stillness. This is one of them. On the George Rogers Farm in Cascade, Iowa — 440 rolling acres that were never quite right for row crops but perfectly suited for 100 head of stock cows — a thunderstorm had just passed. The lane was dark and muddy, curving and rutted, the puddles still catching the sky. Gary L Hightshoe stood there, captivated, and drew what he saw. Not just a barn built in 1907. Not just a cattle shelter. A whole life. A whole Iowa. Get a little rutted in your morning routine — some ruts are worth settling into. Gary L. Hightshoe is an Emeritus Professor of Landscape Architecture at Iowa State University, where he taught plant materials, planting design, and landscape resource management for more than 47 years. Over the course of nearly half a century, his colleagues, clients, students, and family have known him by many names — the Tree Whisperer, the Grandfather of the Prairie, the Godfather of Savanna Studio — and every one of them fits. A lifelong conservationist, ecologist, historian, illustrator, hunter, angler, photographer, and artist, Gary is the author and illustrator of two landmark works: Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines for Rural and Urban America and North American Plantfile — books that continue to shape the field of landscape architecture. His most enduring legacy, however, may be Savanna Studio at Iowa State: the only traveling landscape architecture studio of its kind in the world. Over two decades, Gary led more than 1,000 students out from behind their desks and into the field — to the Boundary Waters, Yellowstone, Theodore Roosevelt, the Badlands, and beyond — because, as he has always believed, "you can't develop a relationship with the landscape from behind a desk." Gary loves the great White Oak, the Pagoda and Flowering Dogwood, and any native prairie forb. His granddaughters will tell you he is decidedly not a fan of petunias, lilacs, or red-leafed varieties. And he has spent a lifetime restoring 40 acres of never-tilled original Iowa land — wetland, prairie, and forest — to the way it was always meant to be. "Long after we've come and gone, a tree still stands." — Gary L. Hightshoe Gary L. Hightshoe is one of five Kate Shu Collective STAR Resident Artists and a treasured member of the Monarch Shoppe family. His mugs are an invitation — to hold something handcrafted, to slow down, and to remember that the land has stories worth telling. About this Mug: • Available in 11 oz, 15 oz, and 20 oz • Premium white gloss finish • Printed using dye sublimation technology — the image is fused directly into the ceramic surface for vivid, true-to-life color that won't fade, crack, or peel. Ever. • Handle stays cool even when your coffee is boiling • Microwave and dishwasher safe • Print quality is exceptional — exactly as pictured