Plein Air: Dixon, Montana

By: Kristina Lyn Heitkamp

May 7, 2016

After hibernating for the winter season, I was excited to pack my bag and head outside for the first spring/summer plein air adventure of 2016! My courageous life partner and artist B. Rex Stewart has been winter adventuring without me. One of these cold Montana snowy days I will bravely join him.

We decided to venture towards old stomping grounds in the Mission Valley, Montana. We found a spot across the way from the National Bison Range. On May 9, 2016 President Barack Obama signed into law the National Bison Legacy and the North American bison was named the National Mammal of the United States. Our close proximity to this prestigious and stately animal felt like a good place to find inspiration. For information about our national mammal, watch the animation I produced about their troubled past. Or read my story about eating buffalo burgers to save bison published in the journal of critical food studies, Gastronomica.

The weather was perfect and it felt incredible to be out. I did a little reading, relaxing, and writing. My latest WIP is a story about a girl named Harvey. More to come later…