This past weekend, I was in Golden, Colorado for the Foothills Fine Arts Festival that was organized by the Foothills Art Center. This show is in it's 3rd year, and is in full blossom. Golden is a great community for art and artists. Hassan Najjar, the Executive Director, along with his team, Eriq Hochuli, Anna Schoen, Sherry McEachran, Cecile Forsberg, Maura Adamson, and Ainsley Carson and many wonderful dedicated volunteers (one of which is my close and personal friend, Nikki Nienhuis) have impressed upon me what teamwork really means. They love art to it's core, they love the artists that create, and they have fostered growth in big and beautiful ways for their amazing festival. 

Located in the heart of downtown Golden, this show is a highlight for any career-artist. It seemed all of Golden and the metro area of Denver came out to see and celebrate the arts. I had many visitors from out of state too. This show gave me the opportunity to connect with hundreds of people and embark on deep and powerful conversations through my artwork.

I bonded with cancer survivors, widowers, and nature lovers. Bringing positive messaging, mother nature, and the memory of time and place to folks through my art is the meaning in my life. To see that we are all part of the same system-the same air and planet-is beautiful, and to come out of the pandemic with shared gratitude for just simply being able to gather again and enjoy the presence and stories of others is the greatest collective gift we can receive.

I was awarded "Best of Colorado" by Foothills Art Center at this festival, and it means so very much to me to receive positive feedback from a jury of professional artists. It's quite humbling. I've discovered over the last 15 years of making that there is something timeless about the way art can connect to the human spirit. I'm just honored to be part of that flow.

The other "best" part of this festival was that I was surrounded by 3 of my best friends; fellow artists Nikki Nienhuis, Gina Barry, and Jenny Goring. Each of us were set up next to, and across from one another. I got to watch them each in action, and see the thrill of all of us dreaming for years about where our art could take us.

It may not seem like a lot to the casual art buyer, but each and every purchase you make from an artist, displaying and selling a bit of who they are, is profound. We all are grateful for the sincere connection YOU have with our artwork. Thanks for inviting us in.

I've known about the Roycroft Artisans for decades, and in the early 2000s, I told myself "One day, I hope to be one of them." That day came in 2016 when I was accepted by a jury of Master Roycroft Artisans to join this amazing organization. It will always be one of my happiest  artistic moments. Becoming a Roycrofter meant the world to me as an artist. To me, it signified that I was truly part of the Arts & Crafts Revival and renaissance movement that has now been alive and strong for longer than the original Arts & Crafts Movement (1880-1920). Last month in April of 2021, I was accepted as a Roycroft Renaissance Master Artisan. Words can't express my gratitude adequately enough. I am proud to learn from my peers, to connect with so many amazing artists all over the U.S., and to carry on in the footsteps of the artisans that came before us.

WHAT IS THE ROYCROFT?
At the turn of the century, the Roycroft Shops in East Aurora, New York (1895-1938), became one of the leading centers in the U.S. for the production of Arts and Crafts goods–books, leatherwork, metalwork, and furniture. The designs of the Roycrofters were influenced by a host of sources, including the work of Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Workshops, the Wiener Werkstätte (notably in the graphic and metalwork designs of Karl Kipp and Dard Hunter), and French Art Nouveau.

The artistic appeal of Roycroft creations made them very popular, but it was also the business acumen and highly charismatic personality of its founder, Elbert Hubbard, which made Roycroft one of the most successful enterprises of the Arts and Crafts era. In the midst of a successful career with the Larkin Soap Company in Buffalo, in 1893 he abandoned his position to study at Harvard and dedicate himself to writing. In the following year he made a trip to England and Ireland during which Hubbard claimed to have met and been greatly influenced by William Morris, founder of the Kelmscott Press, and patriarch of the English Arts and Crafts Movement. Inspired by the ideals of Morris and the beautifully crafted publications of Kelmscott, Hubbard returned to East Aurora where he established the Roycroft Printing Shop in 1895. With his extraordinary aptitude for marketing and self-promotion, the press began garnering national attention for its publications–The Philistine, The Fra, and series of illuminated books and pamphlets, including the politically charged “A Message to Garcia” (1899). Mounting success enabled him to extend the Roycroft campus to thirteen additional buildings over the next ten years, hosting a bindery, leather, furniture, and metalwork shops, and a stained-glass studio, as well as staff housing and an inn for an increasing number of personnel and visitors.

Hubbard’s inspirational leadership eventually attracted nearly 500 craftspeople to his utopian arts community. Roycroft itself became a critical gathering place for contemporary artists, craftsmen, authors, and philosophers of the time.

The original Roycroft mark (the Single R) was trademarked by Elbert Hubbard in 1906. It's inspiration came from a orb and line rising sky-wards, a symbol used in the middle ages by monks in their illuminated manuscripts meaning "The best I can do, dedicated to God" The R stood for Roycroft which symbolized "The Royal Craft" for their high-quality handcrafted works. Suddenly in 1915, Hubbard and his wife died in the sinking of the Lusitania, and the Roycroft Shops were carried on by their son Bert Hubbard, but it entered into a period of decline during the Great Depression, and finally closed in 1938.* 

Bruce Johnson over at the Arts & Crafts Collector has put together a great guide to dating the Roycroft Shopmarks that were in use from 1906 to 1928.

For further reading, this blog post by The Craftsman Bungalow has some great information, and wonderful video clips from a very well-done PBS documentary entitled, Elbert Hubbard: An American Original.

Almost 40 years passed, and the campus and Roycroft name lay in wait for a revival.
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The ROYCROFT RENAISSANCE
In 1976 a group of East Aurora historians, artists and residents with a common interest in the Roycroft Campus and the philosophy of Elbert Hubbard set in motion a plan to preserve those ideals which had made the campus a center of the Arts and Crafts Movement. After several meetings and energetic discussion the Roycrofters-at-Large Association (RALA) was formed. Rixford Jennings innovated the design to incorporate two back-to-back R's signifying the Roycroft Renaissance for the Roycrofters-At-Large Association (shown to the left). When you see the RR mark on a piece of work, be assured it was made to the highest standards with the ideals of using “Head, Heart, and Hand” just as the original mark did.

To become a Roycroft Renaissance artisan, an artist must submit original artwork to a jury of Roycroft Master Artisans. Only artisans whose work exemplifies the following criteria are awarded the use of the RR mark:

- High quality hand-craftsmanship
- Excellence in design
- Continuing artistic growth
- Originality of expression
- Professional recognition

An artisan must be juried in annually to demonstrate continued excellence and growth. After five years, if the work is shown to be exceptional, the jury may elect to elevate the artist to Master Artisan status. 

Today the non-profit organization is still actively working to keep alive the history and philosophy of Roycroft through special events centered on and around the Roycroft Artisans, the Roycroft Chamber Music Fest, and the Roycroft Campus. Through the efforts of Kitty Turgeon, Robert Rust and the RALA organization, the Roycroft Campus became a National Historic Landmark. If you make it to East Aurora, New York, a stay at the historic Roycroft Inn and a visit to The Copper Shop Gallery, and the Schoolhouse Gallery are a must!
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I was asked in December of 2020 to join the RALA board, and I am thrilled to be part of this organization not only as an artisan, but also as a board member, helping to serve our artists and communities.

LINKS TO THE LIVING ROYCROFT ARTISANS
RALA includes over 70 artisans that are working today, so Elbert Hubbard's dream is alive and well in the 21st Century. Visit www.ralaweb.com to view links to each artisan and see thumbnails of their work. I also have a list of every artisan and their website (or email) listed under my Arts & Crafts Links page that includes over 450 links to everything Arts & Crafts from antiques & conferences, to contemporary artisans working in the style today.

Many of us Roycrofters have our artistic creations in the historic Schoolhouse Gallery - 1054 Olean Road, East Aurora, NY. Master Roycroft Artisans Ben Little and Thomas Pafk graciously run this gallery for the good of all of the artisans, collectively. Here's a great article that was published recently about the Schoolhouse Gallery.

RALA is always looking for more art lovers to join as a member-at-large, so if you love this movement and want to support our artisans, please learn more at www.ralaweb.com. For $50 a year, you can join at the Patron Level, where you will receive a hand-made limited-edition item from a Roycrofter each year when you renew your membership. In June 2021, Roycroft Renaissance Artisan John Monk will be making beautiful hand-hammered tree ornaments inspired by Dard Hunter’s rose motif as the patron gift.


*Adapted from the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) Website, Kevin Tucker, 2011.

Mountain Air
SOLD​

Grueby Dance
HOLD - Sale Pending​

Mica Series: Earth
For Sale on my Website​

Greene: Style
For Sale on my Website​

Nouveau Floral Series
SOLD​

Fire Sky
SOLD​

Ruskin Fine Art
For Sale on my Website​

Greene Meets Wright​
For Sale on my Website​

Mica Light Series
For Sale on my Website​

Nouveau to Deco
HOLD - Sale Pending​

Koi Pond
SOLD​

Nouveau Floral Series
SOLD​

GPI Layers
SOLD​

Heintz Series
For Sale on my Website​

Craftsman Lines
SOLD​

Mountain Lakes are some of my favorite landscapes to paint. The peaks rise up out of the water, and the evening sky is changing by the second. Those summer evenings when the sky calls out it's brilliance for just a moment, yes they are magical.

Introducing "Vignette Mountain Lake" gouache on illustration board. Prints are available in 6 sizes, as matted prints, metal, or canvas. I really love it with a double matting, white and black.

This painting is part of a bigger whole. This original painting was a commission and featured her grandchildren roasting marshmallows on their property on Lake Chelan in Washington. The photo showcased the most beautiful sunset, and creating this sky is one of my top 10 favorite moments while painting. Where pink meets orange, that's the stuff of  magic in my book.

By not adding text to this painting it can become any mountain lake around the nation. Notable Colorado lakes that this could represent are: 
Lake City, Lake Loveland, Lake Dillon, Chatfield Reservoir, Lake Granby, Horsetooth Reservoir, Lake San Cristobal, Blue Mesa Reservoir, Boulder Reservoir, Boyd Lake, Sloans Lake, Bear Creek Lake

Options and framing available:
https://www.thebungalowcraft.com/store/c212/MountainLake
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#julieleidel
#thebungalowcraft
#ColoradoMountainLakes

 The night sky is so full of possibilities, energy and light.

In 1925, Edwin Hubble had a theory that the universe was growing. Scientists have been able to prove that the universe is expanding  in all directions, and has been since the beginning, or the Big Bang.

"Something" doesn't come from "nothing". Everything has a source, just as our planet and each of us has an origin story. So does the universe, even if we don't know exactly how to quantify that in scientific terms today. The creator can't be "in" the creation, they have to be separate from it.

For me personally, science is the vehicle for ever-growing understanding of God's creation. Like little puzzle pieces that are being revealed along the way, science sheds light on the Devine.

For believers like me, God (or your personal Higher Power) brings hope and light to a sometimes extremely hard world. I have found that this saying is one of my favorites, especially in difficult times. "God's Promises are Like the Stars; The Darker The Night, The Brighter They Shine."

You can't see the stars when the sun is out. You can't know what light is unless you have experienced darkness. We can learn so much from the difficult times in our lives. Suffering can lead to great discovery, if we are open to it. That's part of my faith, which is at the core of who I am.

This painting has a familiar feel to some of my work, but it is a departure in the sense that so much of the story is told through dots. I didn't set out to with this goal in mind per say, but upon finishing it, the resemblance to some of Vance Kirkland's paintings is striking to me. He used acrylic, and had a lift that would hover him over his canvas laid flat beneath him in his Colorado art studio. Kirkland would use a variety of dowels to dip into his paint to get perfect circles. I used the end of a few different paint brushes to get a similar feel.

Vance Kirkland (1904-1981) is a nationally renowned artist and if you are heading through Denver, Colorado you really shouldn't miss the Kirkland Museum. It's got a remarkable collection of Vance's work and his original art studio. The curator, Hugh Grant has amassed an incredible world-class collection of international decorative artwork from the 1870s through the 1960s. Kirkland Museum is in the top 5 museums around the world for decorative art, especially intriguing for me are the salon style rooms of  the Arts and Crafts Movement: Aesthetic, Art Nouveau, Jugendstil, Glasgow Style, and Wiener Werkstatte.

I was honored to be chosen as the artist for the commemorative grand opening poster for the Kirkland Museum in 2017.
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I recognize that my art is inspired by so many facets of my personal experiences. Each puzzle of our own lives comes together to be recalled at a later date, and with new perspective. This human experience sometimes feels like the garden hose is turned on full blast. There are so many things to learn, so many ways to expand who we are, and so many connections we can make to one another.

We most certainly won't see the puzzle completed before our time on earth is complete, but I'll be trying to grab as many pieces as I can, and I hope to enjoy the experience with a full heart along the way.

​Bookplate by Walter Crane. Even for private use, Crane’s design philosophy combined socialist aesthetics and symbols with conventions of children’s literature. The plate refers to its creator (and the book’s owner) in three different registers. The first showing “Walter Crane” printed across the top of the image. The leading “W” appears in two forms; first, roughly formed by four paintbrushes and then below on the artist’s palette from which the brushes emerge. The central illustration, depicts Crane as his animal alter-ego; a crane. His socialistic philosophy of integrating art and life and of creating work that is consistent with one’s identity is well defined in his bookplate.

Every book lover knows that a book loaned often becomes a book lost. Sharing your treasured books can often be a losing business. So, how can you gently remind the borrower it’s your property, with hope to see it once again? Enter center stage, the innovation of the bookplate.

A bookplate is also known as an ex libris in reference to the Latin inscription meaning “from the books of…” The earliest known example dates back to 1450, the same year as the birth of printing from movable type. Many early bookplates were designed to safeguard the books of barons and nobles. Because of this they were adorned with coats of arms and other indicators of inherited prestige. This was the case through the 18th century. The Victorians with their love of gathering “beautiful things” realized as early as 1875 that bookplates were collectable. In his 1880 publication on bookplate collecting, John Byrne Leicester Warren recognized four distinct styles in early British bookplate design: early armorial, Jacobean (including Restoration, Queen Anne, and early Georgian), Chippendale (rococo), and wreath and ribbon (Victorian).

The 19th century saw the rise of the middle class. Scholars, professionals, and other educated individuals became interested in bookplates and commissioned works in a pictorial vein. These drew from classical and symbolist iconography and were heavily influenced by The Arts and Crafts Movement. In 1891 a few British bookplate collectors met in London to establish the Ex Libris Society and by the end of that first year, it had grown to more than 300 members. The Society began publishing the Journal of the Ex Libris Society and it was published through 1909 with 18 volumes in all. As the collecting of bookplates from previous generations was gaining popularity, the demand for new bookplates also grew. Interest in bookplates reached its peak around the turn of the century but began to decline with the onset of the First World War. Over the next 100 years, interest has come and gone, but for me at least, the height of the art of the bookplate is directly linked to the European Arts & Crafts era.  Today there are some 50 ‘national’ bookplate societies that gather world-wide every two years.

Celebrated artists like Walter Crane, Aubrey Beardsley, Robert Anning Bell, Jesse M. King, Gordon Craig, and C.F.A. Voysey created beautiful works of art, knowing that they would only be seen by a select few. It the bookplate is one of the most intimate forms of personal art during this era. Art for Art’s sake, a treasure to be hidden away in a book somehow becomes more romantic to me, than art meant to be on display for all. Personal art, originally meant only for high society, now acknowledged the social principles put forth by John Ruskin and William Morris; no matter your station in life, you deserve to enjoy refinement and objects of beauty.

Many of the artists of the time saw bookplate design as a new artistic challenge. To reduce the artwork to such a small size and to create with only a limited color palate, or even just in black and white, gave way to graphic design. Simple line contour had to speak volumes. Shape had to be distinct enough to allow instant recognition. In response to these artistic challenges we can see the birthplace of the modern logo.
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And art wasn’t just made from oil or egg tempura anymore. Ink was king! Early innovation in the artistic printing press was akin to adding a snare drum to the band for the first time. Such rich and bold notes had not previously been heard, and could be shocking to the ears. Even today, there is fine art--leave room for the Grand Canyon--and then illustration, including typography. In the 1990s, I received Cs in some of my painting classes at Colorado State University because I wasn’t “painterly” enough. One memorable professor said my work just wasn’t “cooked in” yet. I’ve always been drawn to sharp, defined line work and expressively bold shape. Creating a visual gut-punch of emotion with fewer details always wins in my book. Simplicity of design can be seen as the very foundation of refinement. Oh how I would love to transport back in time to dine with the bookplate artists of the Arts & Crafts Era and hear if they too experienced the inferred or even at times outright scowl from the fine art world. Art should always be personal. These artisans took the time to create small, concentrated drawings that delight to this day like humble lyrics to a whispered song. Next time you are shopping for old books, take the time to open their front covers. You never know what delicious details may be in store for you there.  You may even feel the previous owner looking on, hoping to get their beloved book back. They took the time to mark it, after all.

This article was written by Julie Leidel for the Colorado Arts and Crafts Society.

Virtual art shows are great in 2020. Here's an interview I did with Jerry from Applewood Arts Festival. We cover my artwork, process, and the meaning behind my work:

Watch The Interview

I've had the wonderful opportunity to partner with The Outdoor Lab Foundation for Jeffco Schools in Colorado. 

Outdoor Lab has been enriching the lives of 6th grade and high school students in Jefferson County for more than 60 years. Located in the mountains of Colorado, Mount Evans and Windy Peak Schools give ALL students the opportunity to explore and experience subjects such as earth science, wildlife biology, astronomy and forestry in a unique mountain setting.

I'm excited to announce that 50% of the sale for either painting will go directly to the Outdoor Lab to help support their amazing program, forever.

Here are the links to each painting:
Outdoor Lab: Mt. Evans
Outdoor Lab: Windy Peak


#julieleidel
#thebungalowcraft
#outdoorlab
#outdoorlabfoundation

As the idea for my next painting rolled around in my heart for a few weeks, I knew I wanted to have a strong visual to bring it alive with connection. I wanted this artwork to resonate with the historical time between 1890-1910 when the Art Nouveau Movement flourished and the time in which Mahatma Gandhi lived. The monarch butterfly has represented change across many cultures for centuries.

This female figure in my artwork is not meant to be a fairy however, but it is more of a representation of the "hats" we wear in our lifetime. Similar to putting on a uniform, this is a way we become the job. It's more of a nostalgic take on why a super hero would wear a costume. I've heard many interviews with ordinary citizens put in extraordinary circumstances where the news heralds them "A Hero." Almost always, this hero never feels deserving of the title, they were just doing their part. That's exactly the point behind putting on your wings. We all can be that hero to someone by being the change we want to see in this world.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world" is a beautiful quote, but it's not word for word from Gandhi in printed format. After some research, it is based on his printed teachings from 1913: "If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him."  In 1989, the L.A. Times asked Gandhi's family about the quote and this was their response. "The Gandhi family states that M. K. Gandhi was known to say this verse many times in his lifetime and believes it to be original with him." So to be as accurate as possible, this is why I wrote "Inspired by Gandhi" on the artwork. Notably in 1976, Arleen Lorrance wrote with the same idea "Receive all people as beautiful exactly where they are. Perceive problems as opportunities. Be the change you want to see happen instead of trying to change everyone else..."

Many times the idea for my art's verse, and the idea for my art's composition & visual layout don't happen at the same time. I knew I wanted to base a painting off of Gandhi's teachings in Sept. of 2019 and include monarch butterflies. For my creative process, I muse over different ideas (usually just in my head) as the artwork starts to take shape in a very natural way. I keep my mind open and on the look out for inspiration. New Year 2020 comes around, and I can always count on my dear friend Robert Rust, co-author of The Arts & Crafts Home, and Arts & Crafts Architecture & Design Library to post the most wonderful, antique illustrations & cards on social media. I saw this amazing greeting card drawing, and I was in love.

I stayed up all night on Dec. 29, 2019 creating my conceptual layout for the art. At the time, I didn't know who "LE" was, and neither did Robert.  Weeks later, Laura Euler, author of The Glasgow Style, and Arts & Crafts Embroidery, gave us the missing link. LE is British illustrator Ethel Larcombe (1876-1940.) Anytime I can stumble across a new (to me) female A&C illustrator, I'm all in. I want to share my research of this amazing artist that was also thriving in the time of Gandhi (1869-1948), albeit in a much lesser known capacity.

Ethel Larcombe was born in 1876 in Exeter, England where she lived all her life. Not to be confused with Ethel Thomson Larcombe (British tennis player, 1876-1965.) Her early influences included the book illustrations of Walter Crane and Kate Greenaway, whose work she studies and copied.  William Morris’s Kelmscott Chaucer in 1896 inspired her to explore the Arts & Crafts style, and her artistic influences shifted to painters like Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

In the following years she decreased her use of medieval elements and concentrated on more modern Art Nouveau designs and winning many competitions. Her work  was featured in The Studio Magazine. Other publications that featured her work were Stone, Von Larisch, and Salwey. Her typographic lettering was shown in 1902  in Italy, and a German publication alongside an original alphabet by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. 

​This style soon caught the eye of prolific book designer Talwin Morris,  the Art Director of Blackie & Son in Glasgow.  He commissioned her to design several book bindings for the firm and its London subsidiary, Gresham, between 1904 and 1912. Today, many of Larcombe's bindings are misattributed to Talwin Morris. Larcombe’s work was usually more compact compared to Morris’s. She also provided the title pages and initials to Walter Shaw Sparrow's Women Painters of the World, published in 1905, seen below.

In the Spring of 1917, American retailer Sears, Roebuck, & Co. hired her to design green-bordered cotton textile "coverettes"  and catalogues to appeal to the female buyers looking to decorate children's rooms. Ethel is also well known for her illustrated "rag books" for Dean & Son. Her designs were also used in postcards printed by E. W. Savory Co. and she provided graphical design work for Arts & Crafts furniture designers Neatby & Evans. Not much is known about her personal life, sadly. Ethel Larcombe died in Exeter in 1940. 

This is one of my favorite things about being a Revival artist; I love to bring back not only the style of the Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau movements, but also I love to raise awareness to some of my personal unsung heroes, the lesser known artists from this era. As I was writing, I discovered a lead on the 1917 Sears pamphlets. The last two images posted below have decorative designs that stand starkly against much of the other design work produced by Sears at that time, so I did a little more digging. I have a hunch both of these are Ethel's designs. The Glasgow School of Art put together a wonderful "Treasures of the GSA Library" online after GSA lost their centuries-old library collections in two separate and devastating fires in May 2014 and again in June 2018 before all renovations were complete. I don't believe this digital collection was available before the fires. This image below shows Ethel's 1905 cover (left) next to a 1917 Sears ad (right). Ethel Larcombe's unique typography is unmistakable in both.

Lastly, I want the reader to understand that artists are inspired by other artists and have been since the beginning of time. Art history shows us time and time again how peers (and rivals) have influenced, innovated, and copied each others work whether they are living at the same time, or are divided by a century or more. When I saw this 1905 title page of Women Painters of the World illustrated by Ethel Larcombe, the first artist that popped into my 21st century mind was none other that of Mary Engelbreit. I'd be willing to bet she's been influenced by this book illustrator too. It's a small world, after all.

My name is Julie Leidel, and I’m one of many that has been involved in a terrible accident with our beloved elk population in Evergreen.  I wanted to write my story and perspective of the events that happened on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019 around 5:50- 5:55pm.

I’m an artist, and I was coming home from Breckenridge after an art opening at Portfolio Gallery.  I was heading south bound on HWY 74 before 6pm.  I had just passed through the green light for Bergen Peak Dr. and Lewis Ridge Road.  The speed limit is 55 through that section, and I was driving under the speed limit, at about 45-50mph in my 2015 Nissan Xterra. I was not distracted, I was not texting. I was not in a hurry.  I was paying full attention to the road. I was listening to an audio book on the drive called The Power of Vulnerability by Berne Brown.  HWY 74 was very dark, and I was the only car heading south bound within about 300-500 yards or so. I had no one in front of me, and no one behind me. I was essentially alone on the highway Southbound, heading uphill. I was in the left lane from passing a car earlier, and as I passed by the Wendy’s restaurant, my headlights illuminated in the inky blackness an entire herd of elk crossing diagonally towards me from the South East.  They were tightly gathered, with their bodies stacked in the herd head-to-torso moving towards me to the North West.  The herd was more than one elk deep in places. I could see that they were moving more in a group than in single file. It was a solid wall of elk in front of me. The lead 2-3 elk were to the right of me, 1-2 in the right-hand lane, and another passing into the ditch to my right. In my headlights, I could see about 7-9 elk before my peripheral vision could no longer see more on either side. I knew I was in the center of the herd with no option to swerve left or right to avoid them. As soon as my headlights illuminated them, I braked. I had a few seconds before impact where I was very calm, cool, and collected, and I’ll tell you why.

You see, I had been in a very similar accident 5 years, 1 month, and 1 day prior to this accident. I had been driving in Utah Westbound also at night along I-15 where the speed limit is 85. I had a deer  run out in front of me. In that accident, I was going 85mph and I had no time to break at all as the deer leapt into my lane from my left a second or two before my car. I remember thinking my legs would be crushed as I hit that poor deer. I had a 2009 black Nissan Xterra at that time, and it was totaled from the impact. I had major back pain and issues for months afterwards, but hat car saved my life. The cab had me fully safe, it didn’t buckle into me at all. I bought my 2015 Xterra immediately, and added the reinforced , front grill guard because of this accident. I knew my statistical chances of this happening again were higher than most drivers because of my career as an artist, and my mountain living. I drive all over the state day and night for art shows and festivals. I have always been a cautious driver, especially at night for all the mountain driving I do. I’ve never had any other car accidents in my life. After this Utah accident, I became even more wary to night driving in the mountains. This story is important to know because I take this experience with me when I drive. I took this experience with me as I hit the elk herd. I would argue that I’m a safer driver at night than most cars around be BECAUSE of my previous experience.

I say that I was calm, cool, and collected as I braked for the elk impact because I had done this before. I knew to not freak out and to handle the situation with control and as much mindfulness as I could muster. I believe I had a guardian angel in both encounters.  Time slowed down as I braked hard, but not enough to avoid impact. I remember trying to go between two elk, but that it was futile because there was no break between them. Because of my breaking, I hit the elk going about 35-40mph is my guess.  My air bags didn’t go off this time like they had in my first accident, and I wonder if it was my slow speed that didn’t have them deploy? That part is a mystery to me. I could smell the gun powder scent you get though, like they tried to deploy and misfired. They should have gone off in my opinion. I was calm because I knew that I wouldn’t be crushed because of my trust in my second Xterra. I was clear-minded because I knew this vehicle would save my life, and that my grill guard was between me and the elk. As I hit them, I had a sense that I hit more than one, and I was right after further study of my car in daylight. Right after impact, I continued to slow. I looked in my rear view mirrors, but realized all alignment was off.  I looked over my shoulder behind me as I changed lanes to get off the road safely.

As I came to a full stop on the right-hand side of the highway, I realized my air bags didn’t go off, and I thought maybe the damage wasn’t too bad because of that fact. I also felt a wave of relief after a quick mental body scan that I was not injured, and that the cab didn’t cave in on me. After I was fully stopped, I turned on my hazard lights, and I realized my audio book was still playing, and that my phone had come off of its magnetic holder and had been flung forward on my dash. As I picked up my phone, there was broken safety glass dust and small pieces all over it. I then looked at my windshield for the first time, and saw that there was a huge, central impact crater that had broken the windshield and pushed the safety glass in 3 to 4 inches towards me. In the dark, I could see what I believed was the dark outline of an elk not moving on the hood of my car. I called my husband as I sat at 5:58pm, and then the calm left me as I stared at the damage from my vantage point inside the car and realized how close the elk came to breaking through and coming into the cab at me. I told him the story, and was upset as I told him he would have to come get me. He left our house soon after with my kiddos for the 25 minute drive from our home. As I sat, I could see 3-5 cars pass right next to me (even in the right lane 4-5 inches from my car) going really slowly and looking at me with horror as they continued on. No one stopped. After about 10 minutes of staying in my car, I realized that no more cars were passing by. I then looked behind me to see 300 years or so behind me, headlights on the side of the road of at least 3-4 cars, and 1-2 fire trucks blocking some traffic. I was horrified. Others had hit the same elk herd that I just had.

I tried to get out of my driver’s side door, but it wouldn’t open more than about 3-4 inches. I then crawled over to my passenger door to get out. I had the head lights on still and I could see there was a caution road sign warning of the upcoming lower speed limit of 45mph ahead of me. I had my phone in hand and turned on the flashlight app. It was then that I realized my hood was crumpled up horribly, and it was in fact the shape I saw from the inside – no elk was on my hood. That was just the shape of my hood now. The front of my car was damaged beyond driving. The metal grill guard did its job and was terribly bent along with the engine compartment, which had pushed the sidewall exterior of my car into my driver’s door. It was so dark out that I couldn’t assess all the damage at that time. As I was standing in front of my car taking a photo, traffic started to fly by me at full speed, in the left and right hand lanes, inches from my car! It was so dark that none of the emergency personnel even knew I was part of the accident. I was so far away from the people involved behind me that no one even noticed my car’s flashing hazard lights and they started to divert traffic right into my accident! It was at this time that I knew I needed to walk down to tell them that I was in need of help, that traffic shouldn’t be driving here yet, that there was more of the accident ahead that they didn’t even know about or see.
​
I was walking, but actively in shock. I was blubbering and noises were coming out of my mouth at an astonishingly rapid rate, noises, but not real words. I had a quiet voice at first as everything was starting to pull together in my mind. I realized that no one would be able to hear me, and the first people I saw were the fire fighters out in the middle of the road, diverting traffic to my vehicle location. I tried to yell out, and somewhere in my head I realized that I wasn’t making any sense at all. I was mindful of the fact that I wasn’t able to communicate at all. This sent my body into a deeper shock perhaps. I was walking very uneasy and unbalanced as I tried to stay on the side of the road towards the people. I was crying out still, trying to get anyone’s attention.

The first responder that saw or heard me first was a wonderful woman. She was a fire fighter, and she  came out of the middle of the road to me. She saw my state and she was considerably shorter than I am, but she put her arm around me and held me up and supported me fully as we walked. I remember feeling very well cared for from her, and as my words were coming in and out, I made a point to tell her thank you so much. She handed me over to another male fire fighter and she told him I looked to be in shock. At that point, I realized I needed to shake it off and try to get a really clear head – remove the fog so to speak. They asked me if I was hurt, I said no. They asked me if I was involved in hitting or being hit by any other cars, I said no. The female fire fighter had other duties to attend to, and she left me with the male fire fighter. She was a Godsend for me. I needed her help, and her compassion and concern was warm and she was very empathetic saying that calls about kids and animals being hurt were just the worst.  By this time it is probably 6:15pm, so roughly about a 20-25mintues past the accidents. The male fire fighter was wearing plain clothes and a reflective vest. His arms were crossed and his face calm and unemotional as he watched the diversion of traffic. I asked if the police were on the scene, and he said no, the State Patrol wasn’t here yet. I could see he was annoyed by this fact. I pointed up to my flashing lights and said no one was up there to help me or divert traffic, and he said they didn’t have enough resources to divert any up to me. I explained that they were letting traffic drive full speed too soon, and that it was dangerous up by me. He said can you drive your car away? I said “No way, it’s way too damaged.”  I didn’t know if there were car parts in the road at all or not, it was too dark to tell. He said well, we can’t do anything right now. He said, you’ve got to slow down, this happens all the time and that people drive way too fast through here. I remember being on the defensive, and finding my voice to tell him I was driving well under the speed limit and they were already in the road and I couldn’t see them until my headlights found them, and by then it was too late. He just was very detached saying that this happens all the time... I was cold, my coat was in my car, and he clearly didn’t have anything else to say to me or any help to offer, so I walked back to my car, in disbelief. I didn’t really know what to do. I looked and saw a male elk dead on my side of the road that I must have hit as it was in front of any other stopped cars. I looked into North-bound traffic to see a dead elk over there in the middle of the road, I assumed I hit that one too as it was across from the emergency trucks, more forward from the other car, but it’s hard to tell exactly.

As I got back to my car, I put on my coat, and realized that my paint tubes from a previous art demo had been thrown all over my car. I started to pick them up and tried to pull my belongings together. I was frustrated that no one wanted to help me, and I called my husband back. He was upset by this too and was going to call 911 for me, but since he was driving, I said no, I’ll do it. So, I dialed 911 at 6:21pm. I told dispatch my story and how there were no police on site yet, and how there was no help for my vehicle. As I was on the phone with him, a few state patrol cars pulled up way down the road and we ended the call. I then walked back down the hill the 300 or so yards to the emergency vehicles.  I called out to different fire fighters in the middle lanes that we need to do something about traffic by my car. They had started to change the traffic pattern by my second walk down to them, so they had it diverted somewhat, but still not all the way up by my car. I crossed over the lanes of traffic because no cars were coming, so I could talk to the fire fighter. He yelled out to watch out and get out of the road, but no cars were coming. He said to go talk to the other team (also in the middle of the road) and he pointed directly to them. I had already crossed the open lanes and was next to him, so I continued on in the middle by all the emergency vehicles (where no traffic was) and he yelled at me to get out of the road a second time. I explained that I was going where he told me to go and had pointed me towards, and he was upset with me, so I then crossed the lanes of traffic again because he wanted me out of the road and then waved me onto a second group on the side of the road. He offered for me to sit in the empty cab of the fire truck and just wait, but I declined because I still hadn’t received any help and it felt urgent to me for an emergency vehicle to be up towards my accident with traffic. I suggested that I’d just go back to my car instead after talking to the police, and the fire fighter was upset that I would go back to my car.  He said it wasn’t safe and I should go to the side group of personnel.  I followed his direction to the mix of fire fighters and state patrol officers on the side of the road. I told my story for the 5th time and the officer said I should go back to my car and get out my license and registration. I explained that the fire fighter had JUST told me that I shouldn’t do that. The officer ignored that, and said, I can walk you back, you shouldn’t be out here on the side of the road. Exasperated with a feeling of not being heard, I told him I was perfectly fine walking back by myself and that I had already done it multiple times. I left his company by saying, I need an emergency vehicle to help me up by my car to see the damage, and for traffic, and that I would need a tow truck. He said he’d bring his state patrol car up to me. 

I walked back to my car, by this time, it’s about 6:40pm and my husband and kids were the first people on the scene of my accident. Brian, my husband, told me they had just passed an accident with a van and elk just up and over the hill, further Southbound.  I was giving them hugs and talking to them, and then the officer pulled up behind me with his headlights and emergency lights on, 50 minutes after my accident. The officer sat in his car for around 10 minutes before getting out of his car to talk, running my plates perhaps. He got out and handed me paperwork to fill out. I handed him my driver’s lic and insurance card at his request. I said “Don’t you even want to look at the damage to my car?” He agreed to see it, and we walked to the front of my car. I explained that I was lucky to be alive, and it was the first time I saw his face soften in agreement. He had me fill out the form and write down the accident details while he went back to the patrol car. My family and I waited for a while, and my husband took all my belongings to his car while I took a few more photos.  The officer came back out with the details of the tow he had called for me and asked for my key. No ticket was issued. By this time, all fire trucks are gone, all other emergency cars are gone, and only one patrol was back by one other car behind me. He said I could go, if my family could take me home, but just then the tow had arrived. The two tow truck drivers knew the officer, and with some somber laughter they talked about it being “the  4th one tonight!” I said how horrible, and I hoped there wouldn’t be any more, and the officer just looked at me and said, “Oh, my shift is just starting, I’m sure this won’t be the last.” The tow truck guys and the officer gave me some pointers on talking with my insurance, and I reached out my hand to shake the officer’s hand. We then got into Brian’s car as a family and headed towards home. It was the on Monday that I saw my car in the light at the tow facility for the first time. I think I hit 3 elk, grazed one on my front right, major impact on my front left (driver’s side) and a third slammed into my driver’s door and left passenger doors that I didn’t even notice while on the scene. Both doors were dented in and I couldn’t see this at night.

I was frustrated with much of how the event unfolded, from how quickly the elk were in front of me out of the black night, to how little time I had to respond, to how I couldn’t seem to get any emergency help for such a long time. The worst part for me as I reflected back on it was how all the emergency responders (save my one interaction with the female firefighter) were so numb. Every emergency responder that I came in contact with was expecting this, and it was nothing new, it was just the start of another dark night in November. Some even put blame on me for not being able to avoid the accident. There was a void of compassion or empathy, not because they didn’t feel for the victims, but I believe because it happens all the time, over and over in this area. You can only let so much in if you are an emergency responder. They were all great, and I’m grateful for their help, but we shouldn’t have our emergency folks expecting this to happen on a more than regular basis. Something needs to change! 

I got home and saw posts on NextDoor and Evergreen community Facebook pages over the weekend. So many people comment online about how people speed through that section, and how it’s the driver’s faults because they are distracted or texting… this wasn’t my encounter at all. Not at all. I was well under the speed limit, I wasn’t texting or looking at my phone. I was by myself on the road so I couldn’t see any other cars break because of the elk in front of me. I was at full attention to my driving when this happened and I had no warning until I saw the elk right in front of me. I’ve played it over and over in my mind. I thought critically about what I could have done different. Yes, if I was going slower (at about 20mph) I would have had enough reaction time to stop. That’s the only difference I could have made to avoid this particular case from happening. Tell me, in a 55mph zone, if a car is going 20mph, wouldn’t that also be a hazard?

We need to make some big changes for that 10-15 mile stretch of HWY 74. I think the speed limit should be lowered from I-70 South to a max of 45mph, and maybe down to 35mph after dark. It would be great to have officers giving tickets if we can get a new speed limit in place too, to bring awareness to the issue.  I think we need illumination for the highway. It’s so very dark there, that even the emergency vehicles didn’t see my car, WITH my hazards on. Highway lights would help us see past our headlights and add safety after dark. I would also love to see some fencing so that we could have a controlled area for the animals to safely cross, and flashing motion lights/signs when there’s movement like the city of Golden has done. I think an animal bridge would be even better. With the population of Evergreen growing quickly, more and more cars are on the road with more and more chances to hit elk and deer. We need to keep people safe. We need to keep animals safe. We need some changes to happen as soon as possible so that others aren’t hurt or killed by our beloved elk.  No one wants this to happen, we all feel terrible and my gut sinks anytime I see a dead animal on the side of the road. We have a responsibility to be good stewards of the land and of nature. We have an obligation to work hard, and to make a positive impact with better safety measures for all. This shouldn’t happen all the time. We shouldn’t have emergency responders numb to the number of calls and untouched by the amount of death that comes from these interactions. This is a system that is in need of a fix. We also need to make the public more aware knowledgeable of the dangers, and we need to unite our community in coming up with a better solution.

Thank you,
Julie Leidel

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