Oh Baby

We welcomed our baby girl Hazel Mae Snider on Oct. 17th 2009 at 11:33 pm. 7 lbs 6 oz and 20.5 inches long. She is the most beautiful sight I have ever seen.

At 8 days old Skye Hatten came over to the house to photograph her. These are the amazing images she captured. She is a very talented and wonderful woman.

Hazel has changed our lives. She is all consuming. Every day is a new adventure with her and we are so lucky to have her in our life.

Helenduro Race Flyer

Gravity Guild is sponsoring it's first race event, an Enduro mountain bike race on September 27th. Registration is $25 at Great Divide Cyclery from 9 -10 am on the day of the event.

This will be Helena's first and Montana's only Enduro Race.

I was lucky to be asked to help design the flyer - thanks Steve.

Baby Snider's Room

Just finished remodeling our baby's room. It was awesome creating little paintings for the baby. I painted stuff that I think is wonderful about life. The whole project took about a month and I am super happy with it. It's a great, happy space for a child (and me).

I wanted to have an exhibition before the baby came so I guess this is it. Opening reception is October 14th (the due date).

Wish us luck.

Harvest Moon Banquet & Auction

Here are the two paintings that I'm donating to the Harvest Moon Auction this year. The event supports the work of the Prickly Pear Land Trust and I'm very happy to have been asked to participate again this year.

The auction is Saturday, September 26, 2009 at the Helena Civic Center. Hope you can come support a great cause!

2009 Strutt Your Mutt T-Shirt

The nice folks at the Lewis and Clark Humane Society asked me once again to design their Strutt Your Mutt t-shirt. Strutt Your Mutt is an annual 5k run/walk event that benefits the LCHS and their animals. 

As always, it was great working with Tyler Kechely and Bev Rankin on the project. I even got a chance to watch the silk screening process with Mike Lightbody at his shop, Light's Custom Screening.  Fun stuff - I miss printmaking.

Helena Spring Art Walk

Friday Art Walk was awesome. It was a beautiful night with great art and a great turnout. 

Ceramic artist, Jess Kane exhibited her recycled boutique baby clothes with much success. Her hand made ceramic buttons and eye for color and pattern make me want to be a kid again.

For more info about Jess contact her email: jessort@gmail.com

Cleaning Out The Cobwebs

20 Minute Paintings #15 - 2009

I'm gearing up for my next set of paintings. Lots of research and fun play time composing future painting in the old sketchbook. I will be constructing wood panels to paint on in the next couple of weeks. With the new studio space, I'm thinking BIG!

Sketchbook Saturday #2

About a month ago Shannon Hughes and I started Sketchbook Saturday. It's a awesome excuse to be creative and hang out with great friends. We pick a creative topic, execute it, and show it off at the next meeting.

Today was our second Sketchbook Saturday and a tasty one at that. Shannon's topic was to create a food item or a floral arrangement with an emphasis on esthetic and taste. Crafty Shannon made a fantastic spring roll bouquet and I baked some sweet and savory, red grape and rosemary tapas. We drank mint and lemon balm ice tea under the spring sun in Shannon's back yard and for a moment, just a moment, we may have forgotten we were in Helena.

Thanks Shannon!

Birds, for the fun of it.

While remodeling our house I kept busy by drawing "Birds, for the fun of it." 

Without a studio to work in, it helped a ton to draw these little critters to keep my painting brain alive. Besides, can anyone have a bad time drawing birds?

I hope to have a slew of them at my next show.

Gabriel Kulka at the Turman Larison

Just got back from Helena's Turman Larison Contemporary and am excited about Gabriel Kulka's work. It makes me smile and I want to sit and play and imagine.

See more of his work here: http://www.gabrielkulka.com. The exhibit comes down soon so check it out or visit http://www.turmanlarison.com to find out more info.

Thanks Mary Lee and Doug for bringing such great art to Helena.

Gravity Guild Logo

Back in February, Steve Coen from Great Divid Cyclery ask me to help put together a logo for his downhill mountain bike racing team, Gravity Guild. This will be Helena's first official downhill racing team and I was stoked to help them with identity.

Steve wanted to create a guild shaped icon with a word mark. I combined two interlocking "G's" to create the guild shape icon and added a descending arrow to the "Y" of the word mark. The whole logo was designed to give the feel of " fast descending" or "gravity". Steve is a pretty hip guy and I knew I couldn't get away with giving him anything less.

Hoodies, t-shirts, team jerseys, and stickers will all carry the logo.  

Congrats Steve, wishing you and your team success. For more information visit: http://www.gravityguildracing.com

Field Trip

Will and I took a trip out to the Gold County Mushroom Farm in Clancy, MT today to pick up mushroom compost for our garden. This hand painted sign made the whole trip worth it.  All their mushrooms are grown organically and I've heard that the compost is pure mushroom magic.

2009 Extravaganza Poster

This year I was asked by the Rocky Mountain Development Council to create an illustration for Head Start's Extravaganza event on April 23rd, 2009.  

Since the event is in April (springtime for Montana), the volunteer panel wanted an image that conveyed springtime yet incorporated Head Start's mission of helping at-risk children grow and learn. I thought that the blossoming hand print of a child seemed to meet both requests.

A 18" x 24" framed poster of the illustration will be auctioned at the Extravaganza event. For more info on the event please visit: http://www.rmdc.net/extravaganza/index.html

It was great to work with all the volunteers on the project and I look forward to helping out next year. Thank you.