Nature Is Her Canvas

By ALEXANDRA PFEIFER | Special to the Palisadian-Post

Palisadian-Post columnist Alexandra Pfeifer sits down with a local mom to chat about how she balances her family life with her busy career.

Ryan Conviser Gutierrez was born in Chicago and spent her youth living in a downtown high-rise building—not exactly a direct path to the bounty of the natural world. Her parents did not have a car, they walked. It was the essence of city life.

Enrolled in the respected Latin School, Gutierrez remained with her classmates from kindergarten through high school graduation. That sort of stability—for a city kid—builds a strong foundation for life.

Following graduation from the Latin School, Gutierrez attended Middlebury College and later the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she earned a master’s degree and found her life-long future passion in the field of landscape architecture.

“I have always been creative and have been drawn to well-designed spaces,” Gutierrez shared. “This comes from my parents, who lived an artistic life in beautiful surroundings. We traveled, visited galleries, art fairs, museums and antique shops. This was part of my family upbringing and influence.”

The Palisades-based landscape designer first thought that interior design, or perhaps residential architecture, would be her calling.

“I fell in love with the idea of designing outdoors with materials that you can’t always control,” she said.

Gutierrez met and married her college beau Josh, and today, the couple embraces the Palisades life. As parents of three young boys, Owen (9), Beckett (7) and Milo (3), their lives are, as expected, very full.

Gutierrez was raised as an only child, but always wanted a large family. Life in the Palisades affords the young family all of the perks and possibilities of a once by-gone era of simple and safe family experience.

“I cherish my neighbors,” Gutierrez offered. “There are a bunch of little boys that live near us and they ride their bikes and scooters around each other’s houses.”

It is how she dreamed life in the suburbs would be when she was a child in the city.

As a family, the Gutierrez clan loves to hike Temescal Canyon or spend quality time at the polo fields at Will Rogers State Park. Walking into The Village to explore restaurants and shops adds to this community feeling.

“And getting take-out delivery from Taj Palace—our favorite Indian restaurant—makes for the perfect dinner at home on any night,” she shared. “When we travel, our idea of the perfect family vacation is a quiet beach in Costa Rica on the Nicoya Peninsula, exploring tide pools and napping in a hammock. My idea of heaven!”

Incorporating her family life with her professional life has worked well for Gutierrez.

“I’m lucky to work for myself so that I can be available for my kids,” she said. “I try to end work by 3:30 so that I’m home by the time the older boys get off the bus.”

Gutierrez also shared that there are many aspects of her career that she loves.

“I work with plants, I spend time outside and I get to be creative on a regular basis,” Gutierrez reported.

Gutierrez expressed gratitude for her good fortune. The love of husband and their three boys complements a rewarding career in landscape design that fulfills her life.