When photographer Dave M. Shumway moved to Billings, Montana, in 2005, he began hiking the mountain trails closest to his new city. For the most part, that meant the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness to the south. “I’d hike the trails, and I’d look up to these 12,000-foot...
Just about everyone in the town of Lewistown, Montana, population 5,800, knew about the 6,000-square-foot stucco home just off Main Street. If not for the structure’s rich history — it was built by one of the town’s founding fathers in 1917, converted into nine upscale...
I’m not one to tease about physical limitations, or take advantage of someone because of them, but last year I found the perfect moment to capitalize on a friend’s frustrations. We were fishing a river in Idaho, just over the Bitterroot Mountains from Missoula, Montana, and...
Sunday morning, first half of June, at the Reid place east of Ballantine, along the Highline Canal. Bluebird day, some cut hay rowed in fields, meadowlarks blasting from fence posts, silty water brimming down the canal, the air blessedly cool. Shannon Kahler pulls up in...
Some days clouds drift over the canyon, horsetails, bits of high cotton. In the afternoon, then, the sky quickens, tumbles — a dark creek crashing down the mountain. Other days from ridge to ridge there’s only a high, dry, guileless blue, and you can fairly hear the meadow grass breathe. You could say, I...
Dinner at The Fieldhouse in Billings just might make you rethink Brussels sprouts. Chef Ben Harman doesn’t dress up the old fashion staple with bacon and some heavy sauce to mask its natural flavor. Instead, he does something entirely different, topping the roasted vegetable with...
With dabs of oil paint edged around her rectangular glass palette, Loretta Domaszewski stands before a three-by-four-foot canvas, one of four pieces she’s working on. Each one in this series speaks to the essential elements: fire, water, air, and earth. Using a vibrant, salmon-colored underpainting,...
Art on the Road: The Logistics of Art Transportation Have you ever thought about how valuable art gets from one place to another? Professional art shippers range from those that handle basic shipping needs, to those that offer greater levels of security and handling, including courier...
Project Highlight If you’ve ever traveled from sea level to a high-elevation mountain vacation, you’ve probably felt the effects of altitude. Headaches, sleeplessness, nausea, light headedness, slight confusion, whatever the symptoms may be, they can last for days, and if your ski vacation is only a...
Western Artisan “I’ve been around wood for 37 years now, and I’m still amazed by the many pieces of wood that we make things from, and the unique history of each piece. Sometimes the story is special because of how nature has shaped those pieces of...