Three ladies visited the Tetons for a week last summer.  They spent time on both sides of the relatively narrow range, enjoying Grand Teton National Park, Jackson Hole, WY & the quieter west side — Teton Valley, ID. You really can’t go wrong, considering the mountain views are spectacular on both sides of the monumental peaks.

As luck would have it, one of these gals distracted her friends while she picked up the last Mountain Montage brochure at a local establishment. ”

This would be the perfect gift,” she thought.  And she was right!  What a great idea — to have a local artist from your vacation destination create personalized fine art from your vacation photographs. Genius; though of course, I’m obviously biased.

She sent me a variety of pictures with free reign to create three 9″x12″ picture boxes – one for each of them to commemorate the trip.  This was going to be a fun assignment.  The first step was to decide how to divvy the photos amongst the 3 canvases. Knowing the area gave me the slight advantage that I could easily pair locations after I organized the photos into their venues.

Once a canvas is laid out, there is a moment of relief when I can envision how the sometimes disparate photographs will come together into a single vista. Though every piece inevitably has a ‘perspective crux’ – assuaging a horizon line into the bottom of the scene stacked above it, integrating macro and landscape images seamlessly, combining two totally different locations into one, etc. These challenge continue to hone my skills and demand innovation and perseverance.

The paintings landed safely with their patron to happy reviews.  I’m sure the immense thoughtfulness of her gift, in addition to the artworks themselves, will be incredibly well-received by her friends as well.

Carolyn had a family reunion this summer.  At first she thought it would be a fun surprise to have a montage done in time for the reunion, but then it was decided to incorporate the reunion into the final piece – which worked out splendidly.

She invited me over to take a collective photograph of the whole crew – three generations gathered to take advantage of a Teton Valley summer. It was wonderful to catch up with everyone and capture the family together.

This montage, based primarily on Carolyn’s personal photos, incorporates the pool & patio from their Boise home, their longtime home in Teton Valley, Carolyn & Mike’s wedding day, each of their children, grandchildren, her father, their passion for fishing and the Teton River.

I enjoy using photographs in my work because they add such exceptional detail – as only a photograph can. Using personal photographs has the added benefit of stirring up details & emotions that naturally accompany photographed moments in our memories.

It’s an honor, challenge, and joy to juxtapose parts of people’s lives in photographic detail and blend it into a single vista. For example in this detail, Carolyn sits on the courthouse steps with two friends on her wedding day, her children look on from the side in various stages of teen thought. In the foreground, Carolyn stands beside her daughter on Monica’s wedding day. They appear to be looking over Monica’s shoulder at a younger Monica looking on her mother on her wedding day.

Life is full of these beautiful circles – each generation coming around to add new marriages, babies, pets, and experiences to the whole. I love that my work allows combining these various factions of our lives into one. Because in the end, it is all one – a life well lived.

This spring I’ve been ramping up marketing of my Mountain Montage site and offerings.  While the unusually early, warm summer and my one-year-old in tow have made progress slow, I do want to share the last pieces I finished for a good friend this spring.

Sadly these were memorial pieces for my friend’s son who had an incurable genetic disease called Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS). While Max faced an uphill battle, he faced it with a solid troop of crusaders by his side and often with a smile on his face. His teachers referred to themselves as Max’s Minions and went above and beyond to keep him comfortable, curious and engaged.

It is impossible to imagine the complexity of relationships bound by the finiteness of life until we are a part of them. To me, it takes strength, a positive attitude and probably a decent dose of denial to make it through on a daily basis. Since Max’s peaceful passing he has been deeply missed by his parents, brother and many teachers and friends. Close to a year after his passing, his mother decided that a montage was the perfect way to remember Max in their home.  I couldn’t agree more.

It was difficult for Max’s mother to sit down and go through the photos, but also necessary and healing.  There were so many memories. She printed a ton of pictures that we both went through to try and sum up Max.  In the end, she decided to have two paintings made.  The first celebrated her family and exemplified the brothers and their mother in action. After seeing and loving it, she thought that something similar would be the only appropriate “thank you” to Max’s primary teacher, who worked tirelessly to keep Max at his school and provide him with the care he needed.

The teacher was touched by the memories the painting evoked and after receiving it decided to hang it in her classroom through the end of the year to share with fellow teachers and students.

I envision Mountain Montage providing opportunities for many to see their memories come to life on a variety of subjects – vacations, marriages, reunions, etc. And while I don’t wish every order be a memorial piece, I do think it is a magical way to encompass the vibrancy, complexity, and memories of a person’s life into a single vista.  In creating a memorial montage, I hope to help spread the joy of a life once lived.