Growing up, Rosalie Haizlett experienced migraines so severe that she was often hospitalized. Most doctors told her to lie down in a dark, quiet room and wait for the pain to pass. But one neurologist offered a different prescription: nature walks.

“So, I started walking,” Rosalie writes in a blog published on She Explores. “First, I stayed on the paths that wind through our hilly West Virginia farm, and eventually I began straying off and following wherever my curiosity pulled me.”

It was during these slow strolls that she began to truly notice the natural world. Instead of focusing on distance or destination, her attention settled on what was right in front of her — moss climbing over fallen logs, fungi pushing through damp leaf litter, beetles quietly working through the undergrowth.

Today, Rosalie works as a nature illustrator, with a career that includes residencies in places like Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Desert National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada, as well as collaborations with organizations like the Audubon Society.

She is also the author of "Tiny Worlds of the Appalachian Mountains," a richly illustrated collection that turns attention to the region’s smallest wonders — from box turtles to bunchberry blooms. The book emerged from a six-month journey she and her husband took along the Appalachian Mountains, traveling from Alabama to Canada and stopping often to wander and observe.

“In spring 2021, I had a brief lull in my illustration work,” Rosalie said. “When the idea to travel the entire mountain range and paint the tiny worlds that I found came to mind, I just couldn't shake the feeling that this was exactly the right new step for me.”

Along the way, Rosalie filled sketchbook after sketchbook, mapping the places she visited, sketching the creatures she encountered, and capturing the landscapes that tied it all together.

One of her favorite pieces, Morning in a Mountain Bog, was inspired by a quiet moment in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

“I hunched down and sat perfectly quiet for many minutes, and as I sank into stillness a variety of wonderful creatures emerged: bluet damselflies, a muskrat nibbling on plants, and a green frog with shiny gold-flecked eyes that looked like beautiful glass marbles,” she said. “Around me, bog plants like roundleaf sundew, purple pitcher plant, and sheep laurel created a delightful backdrop.”

For readers in Appalachia, the work offers a quiet reminder: the extraordinary isn’t somewhere else — it’s already here, waiting to be noticed.

“We live in a wonderfully biodiverse region and, despite all the human extraction, there are still so many species here that are worth protecting and cherishing,” Rosalie said. “It's become my mission to notice the details of nature in every place that I visit and share them through whimsical, inviting artwork.”