Y’all, the folks who work at @homeresource are just the best. They’ve been so welcoming to me during my month here. I had a good ol’ cry this morning when I came upstairs to my studio and saw this card waiting for me. I knew that today would probably the last day I could actually spend time here working on something before I need to start packing and cleaning up tomorrow. The first piece I made here on my first day was the “BT is In/Out” sign, which has had such a positive reaction, so this piece seemed an appropriate final piece, to paint, which I’ll leave behind for any of their future @openairmt art residents.

In the last month, through my @openairmt residency at @homeresource in Missoula, I have completed, by my count, four larger, interactive or functional pieces, and around 12-15 smaller painted pieces. I have been able to experiment with the laser at the Makerspace in the library here, to add new effects to my gold pieces, and generally have had the time to explore my various processes and see how they can function together. I’m so grateful to have had this time for focus, and I know it will be leading to bigger better things in terms of what I have been inspired to make into the future. I’ll be making separate posts about some of the larger pieces I’ve finished, but here is a little mishmash of everything. If you’re in the Missoula area, I will be giving an artist talk today at 4pm, at Home ReSource, 1515 Wyoming. Come see these things in person!

Obligatory booth shot from the @handmademt Missoula Made Fair at Caras Park. We’ll be here until 4pm. Bonus tired maker selfie after a hell of a fun late night at the Pride Punk show last night. Running on not a lot of sleep, but so happy to be here!

I’ve probably made a dozen or so of these D20 gold pieces over the last couple years. There’s endless possibilities to mix up color options, different golds, and other effects, but this one might be one of my favorites. It’s a little bit bigger than most of them at 18 x 6, due to the curved corner piece of glass I found at @homeresource . The lettering is 23k gold leaf with laser-etched, “dungeon floor” interiors (thanks to the makerspace at the @missoulapubliclibrary), with mother of pearl and green glitter on the D20. To top it off, I used the wood shop at Home ReSource to make a custom, oak base for it to sit in on your shelf, book case, mantel, gaming table, or wherever you’ve got the room. I will have this for sale at my table at the @handmademt Missoula Made Fair tomorrow, and on Etsy later this summer, if it doesn’t sell this weekend.

Tomorrow is the @handmademt Missoula Made Fair! This was the first show I did when I moved to Montana, and it’s still my favorite. If you’re in the area, come on by Caras Park from 10am-4pm. I will be in my usual spot, under the big pavilion tent, facing the bridge, rain or shine. I’ll have my usual slate of paintings, prints, and small stuff, and a whole bunch of new stuff I’ve been painting while at @homeresource these last few weeks. See you there!

What a wonderful workshop in Direct Animation tonight at the @missoulapubliclibrary, led by @supine_dome, fellow @openairmt resident this summer. Such a fun process and different from any other types of animation I’ve tried in the past. Final video is my short experimental film.

Hey, Missoula pals! This Friday, I’m going to be hosting an Open Studio event, all day at @homeresource, from 9am-6pm. Come on by and hang out while I work, ask me questions, bring me coffee and snacks, etc. My studio space is in the mezzanine, there will be signs guiding you to the stairs. This will be my only event until my official @openairmt artist talk on June 20th. I really hope you can make it, even just to pop by and say hello!

Here’s a little bit of behind the scenes progress on the next piece I’m making at @homeresource for my June art residency through @openairmt. Step one: find old oak window frame with cool brass hardware. Step two: cut it down to fit the translucent green, security plexi panel that I also found. Step three: make a box from some beautiful mystery wood that someone had painted over. This box will hold LED light strips to backlight the panel. Step four: decide the frame doesn’t fit the box well enough, cut it down further to fit better. Finally (for now), step five: sand everything down and give it some new life with a fresh soaking of stain. Next week, I’ll be painting some words (TBD) on the panel, and dropping in the lights to finish it up!

One of my goals of my current @openairmt residency at @homeresource is to experiment in my various processes. The @missoulapubliclibrary has a fantastic makerspace that is open to the public, so I popped in during walk-in hours yesterday, with some scrap 1/4” glass from Home ReSource, and tested out throwing some water gilding on top of glass that has been laser-etched in various patterns. The results honestly turned out better than I had hoped for a first try, and I could see this technique being able to to be used creatively on all manner of smaller gold sign work.

I guess this is technically my first piece of my residency at @homeresource! My studio space is a semi-private corner of the mezzanine. Even though my spot isn’t directly open to the public, I don’t want to feel totally closed off up here, so I made myself a quickie little sign to let the folks that work here know that they can come up for a chat if they want. I had the board already, but I pulled all the hanging hardware and a scrap of metal for the In/Out bit here on site!

I came to Missoula with the intention to bike as much as possible. What I didn’t plan on was buying a new (to me) bike during my first few days in town. I picked up this @surlybikes Long Haul Trucker on Craigslist yesterday and the good folks over at @freecyclesmissoula had all the tools and know how to help me get it all BT-worthy: I swapped in the pedals from my old bike and found some new bars I like better too. I happily donated the bike I brought from Butte and all other parts I took off the Trucker. This is my third Surly bike in 20 years, and I couldn’t be happier to get back out and hit the streets.

It has been a whirlwind last few days: I arrived in Missoula Sunday night for my month-long art residency through @openairmt. There are three other artists doing residencies at other sites around town too. Monday was a full day of orientation and tours of all four residency locations. This morning, a tour of the UM art department facilities, and then finally, back to my residency location, @homeresource, to set up my studio space, and more importantly, do my first shopping trip through here, grabbing all manner of bits and bobs I hope to make into cool new things this month. Check out my first haul in the last few pics. I’ll be documenting as much of my process as possible, so I hope y’all find that interesting.