DeAnna Ortiz Brandt was born and raised in Minnesota. She and her husband moved into the woods on a lake and there raised two sons and a myriad of both wild and domestic pets. Numerous weimaraners have been constant companions over their 35 years of marriage.
For many years, her husband would take the kids on an annual "guys" canoe camping trip in the BWCAW of northern Minnesota along with other men and their sons which they fully enjoyed and looked forward to each year.
She wanted to raise her boys with an appreciation of the natural world around them so, starting when the boys were just 3 and an infant, daily nature hikes with a trusty red wagon as their "pack mule" to haul food, water, interesting finds and eventually tired kids, were routine.
It was during one of those excursions that her 3 year old flipped over a dead log and found many cool bugs, snails, and a nearby turtle shell, which lead him to say, "mom, we should write this down!".
De couldn't find any kid's nature journals at the bookstores, so, as the saying goes, "Necessity is the Mother of Invention"! With her background in graphic design, she started work on what became the "Nature Log Kids" journal.
Currently she enjoys being a fiber artist, woodworker, silversmith and trying many other artistic mediums and methods.
Almost empty nesters, she and her husband enjoy skiing, hiking, walking, biking, fly fishing, archery, and other outdoor sports in both Minnesota and in Big Sky, MT, were they had a cabin for 14 years.
