Though Neihart’s population has dropped from 4,000 at its mining-boom peak in the 1890s to 51 in 2015, it’s anything but a ghost town.
‘Chief Product Tester’ George Willet. PHOTO BY TYLER ALLEN
Located along U.S. Highway 89 in the heart of the Little Belt Mountains, Neihart is an ideal place to get lost. With food and lodging at Bob’s Bar and rations aplenty at the Inconvenience Store, the town provides easy access to top-notch hiking, fishing, and camping, as well as 250 miles of snowmobile and mountain biking trails.
Snow, however, is what Neihart does best. Nine miles south of town, Showdown Ski Area, Montana’s oldest continuously operating ski mountain, rises 8,200 feet to the summit of Porphyry Peak. Founded in 1936, Showdown offers 34 trails to riders of all abilities, and is celebrating its 80th season this winter by sticking with what works: friendly service and natural snow.
Neihart resident George Willett has owned Showdown for more than 40 years, and says early mountain mornings are still his favorite moments: “My main title here is ‘Chief Product Tester,’ so when there’s fresh snow, I need to get up and test it to make sure it’s OK for people to ski on.”
Willett is proud of Showdown’s legacy of all natural “product,” and he’s grateful, too.
“The ‘Big Guy’ – he seems to put snow here most years.”
This story was first published in the winter 2016 issue of Mountain Outlaw magazine.
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a
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We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a limited palette to create different color combinations? Are you tired of carrying around 15-20 different tubes when you paint plein air? Have you ever wanted to create a certain “mood” in a painting but failed? Do you create a lot of mud? Do you struggle to achieve color harmony? All these problems are addressed in John’s workbook in clear and concise language!
Based on the bestselling “Limited Palatte, Unlimited Color” workbook written by John Pototschnik, the workshop is run by Maggie Shane and Annie McCoy, accomplished landscape (acrylic) and plein air (oil) artists,exhibitors at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery and members of the Big Sky Artists Collective.
Each student will receive a copy of “Limited Palette, Unlimited Color” to keep and take home to continue your limited palette journey. We will show you how to use the color wheel and mix your own clean mixtures to successfully create a mood for your paintings.
Each day, we will create a different limited palette color chart and paint a version of a simple landscape using John’s directives. You will then be able to go home and paint more schemes using the book for guidance.
Workshop is open to painters (oil or acrylic) of any level although students must have some basic knowledge of the medium he or she uses. Students will be provided the book ($92 value), color wheel, value scale and canvas papers to complete the daily exercises.