Hello!
My name is Patti Wren Byrd.
Welcome to my Writing Portfolio!
Born in the ‘80s, I was raised near the Cape Fear River in the balmy North Carolina Piedmont and on the humid NC coast. In the ‘90s, my family and I moved from the heart of Fayetteville, out to the country of Cumberland County on a lake, surrounded by woods. I quickly fell in love with filling all of my free time building forts in the woods, observing the local wildlife, and spending as much time as I could by the lake, and basking in the evening sunsets with the sounds of the peepers in the spring, frogs in the summer and Canadian geese in the autumn and winter.
During my childhood, my family and I would often pack up and drive east, to our home on the coast, overlooking Bogue Sound and the Emerald Isle Causeway. I would spend hours in the hot sun and sand on the beaches of Emerald Ilse and Hammocks Beach State Park. In the evenings, my family and I would enjoy a home cooked meal of my Granddaddy’s catches of the day (mainly sheepshead and flounder) and paired with fresh corn on the cob and the most perfect thin, crispy and perfectly salted french fries that my Grandmother made herself from scratch.
Me on Emerald Isle, 1988 — Photo by my father, Phil Byrd
My Granddaddy and a sheepshead that he caught, 1991 — Photo by my father, Phil Byrd
My father, brother and I infront of the Emerald Isle Bridge, 1988 — Photo by my mother, Kathie Byrd
In the early 2000s, I graduated from UNC Charlotte with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art, spent six months in Carrboro, and moved back to Noda and Plaza Midwood in Charlotte where I loved working as a barista at Smelly Cat Coffeehouse, selling my paintings and photography on the side. I would take day trips up to the gorgeous North Carolina mountains to climb the epic boulders and rock faces at Rumbling Bald, Table Rock, Looking Glass and Grandmother Mountain and completely fell in love with the magnificent splendor of these incredible mountains, valleys and winding rivers. I soon decided to give up my thriving life in the perfect little artists’ neighborhood of Noda and move to Asheville in 2011. I quickly landed a home and an enjoyable job at a friendly hostel right on the main road of West Asheville called Bon Paul and Sharky’s Hostel and settled straight away into studying herbs and the local medicinal flora.
Me with wild herbs, in WNC, 2016 — Photo by Scott Sullivan
Weaving together my living as a seamstress, leather worker, photographer, painter, writer and editor, and interior stylist, I enjoy a well-rounded lifestyle with plenty of time in nature and travel. Visiting the charming, small towns in these mountains and along the coast of North Carolina satisfies my deep-seated wanderlust almost as much as a trip back to the enchantingly raw deserts of Arizona or the stunningly blue waters and lush green mountainsides of the Caribbean; two of my top most favorite places, out of the list of many.
Tucson, Arizona, 2021 — Photo by Patti Wren Byrd
St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, 2022 — Photo by Patti Wren Byrd
I hope these articles help educate and inspire you to explore new places, try new things, learn more about your local wildlife, get out in nature and dig a little deeper in your world for more satisfaction and enjoyment in this life!
Reach out to me for anything that you need written or edited. I’d love to meet and work with you!
Me in Black Mountain, NC, 2022 — Photo by Tabitha Hall
And please feel free to follow me on Instagram!
Handcrafted heirloom leather work:
Curated living spaces: