Born and raised in Vancouver, Washington – Jena has spent her life immersed in the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. She also has the urban influence of being raised 10 minutes from downtown Portland. Her love of underground music, skiing, rock climbing, backpacking, and mountaineering began early in her teens. After growing up in the shadow of Mt St Helens and playing on Mt Rainier, Mt Adams, and Mt Hood, she fulfilled a long-time dream of moving to Parkdale, Oregon in 2004 to begin her career as a professional ski patroller at Mt Hood Meadows. Eventually she attended Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington to pursue dual degrees in Environmental Science, focusing on Terrestrial Ecology & Habitat Restoration and Environmental Chemistry. She also subsequently earned a professional certificate in River Restoration Project Management from Portland State University.
Living life fully immersed in the world of skiing and climbing while working as a biologist and ecologist became her heartbeat for many years. This lifestyle has given her to many incredible opportunities such as working as the first lead rock climbing biological technician at Devil’s Tower, Wyoming in 2012 to working as Conservation Project Manager at the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County in California in 2023. While living in California, she picked up sailing and is actively pursuing more wind sports. She has also travelled across the US, Mexico, Canada and Nepal to visit Kathmandu and Everest Base Camp.
The ebbs and flows of life had taken her away from Mt Hood and the Gorge for the last several years but she happily relocated back to her home in the PNW in 2024. She is the owner of Zoe Gish Creative, LLC with a little working art studio in White Salmon, Washington and calls Mosier, Oregon home. After nearly two decades of working as an Environmental Scientist in Natural Resources Management, she is now letting her artistic side run wild.
All of her work is influenced by a lifetime in nature, a passion for unique beauty, and a love for underground music. As a self-taught artist, she leans into both the fun+playful aspects of mountain life while exploring the ever-changing beauty of the natural world. The same peak can go from bright pink and sparkling in the morning to moody and broody in the afternoon. The same tree can be many different colors over the course of the year. The same river can be 1000 different hues at any given time. Such is the dichotomy of nature: solid, permanent, seemingly everlasting – yet ephemeral, ever changing, and ethereal.
