A Threshold is the level or point at which you start to experience something, or at which something starts to happen or change. An environmental threshold is a point at which the environment or ecosystem cannot recover.

The piece above was created by Sally Graves Machlis and Delphine Keim with assistance from climate scientist Sanford Eigenbrode for an exhibition titled Abundant. The exhibition was supported by a grant from the University of Idaho giving artists an opportunity to visualize the work of scientists. The painting represents the landscape of the Palouse, the agricultural area where we live and work. The shelf in front of the painting holds small black bowls edged with tiny Milagros of aphids and ladybugs and are filled with crops of the region. A large part of the world’s food supply rests on a natural balance of crops and predators.