Outer space is an enthralling expanse that, throughout history, has inspired the adventurous to push past earthly boundaries. A final frontier.

Sometimes the results involve space travel or satellites. Sometimes pedestrians who are moved by these accomplishments choose to express their enthusiasms while earthbound. Minneapolis-based artist Marjorie Schalles is one of these adventurers, who was inspired to reimagine earth from a cosmic perspective.

In 2014, moved by the vivid textures and patterns captured by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA satellites, Schalles finalized the gallery, Earth Art, which includes 26 mixed media pieces (“Gravité de La Lune,” Sahara Dunes,” “Edge of Space” and others) that come in a variety of sizes. Seven of them are featured on the following pages.

“It was just a very organic process. I just sort of picked one [of the satellite images] and started,” Schalles says. “And I just took it from there. And some of them are real, direct copies of the photographs and others are more an abstract version of the photographs.”

One of the artist’s favorite pieces—“Thjorsa River Delta”—was the largest work of art she had ever attempted. From the combination of acrylic on board to her emphasis of the shadows beneath the arches, Schalles recreated her vision of the Icelandic landmark. “I was just really drawn to these [satellite images] and they consumed me,” she says. “I couldn’t wait until I started the next one.” —Taylor Vraney