Ray Vierra’s work is thorough and assiduous. A conscientious craftsman, he brings a concerted effort and tough-as-nails love to comply with the inelastic requirements of the long-established profession he’s dedicated himself to.

Vierra is a saddle maker. To him, saddles are more than just seats or pads used to support the rider on a horse; they’re the crafty consequence of a lifelong labor of love requiring inordinate time, patience, concentration and diligence.

This Victor man’s unexpected saddle building foray happened following an occupational injury which catapulted him into a new line of work. A former California police officer, Vierra’s department even paid his apprenticeship program fees, to a saddle making school in Bishop, CA. The 10-week long curriculum taught Vierra the necessary nitty-gritty and essential facts of saddle making.

“We’d build saddles 10 hours a day,” recalls Vierra. “We learned how to do things the hard way first, and then after you mastered the hard way, then you were taught the easy way. I’ve always been interested in the design and the build of saddles, and how they’ve been put together.”

In 1993, Vierra took his curiosity and education in saddle making a sizable step further, forming Vierra Saddle Company, and since that time he has remained immersed in his adept area of interest. “Older saddle makers typically had one way of building things. I build whatever the customer wants. A lot of guys out there are building a saddle for their own ego. I let the customer pick the tree, the horn height, and the horn shape.”

Really, it didn’t take Vierra long to appreciate and underscore the differences between production style saddles and his custom made ones.

“Companies that have semi-custom production saddles are mainly interested in doing things the fastest way, not the right way,” says Vierra, adding that such production saddles are based on speed, instead of precision and care.

“I’m not motivated in turning out saddles quickly but by quality workmanship. When you order a saddle out of a catalogue it can’t be fitted properly to your leg length and width. You’re getting a generic seat.”

Using only the best specially selected leathers, all of Vierra’s saddles are cut, dyed and skived by hand. Brass fittings, exterior components, riggings and intricate and artistic tooling complete the authentic detail.

Today’s technology provides a choice of polyurethane, fiberglass and plastic trees (structures used for framework in saddle making.). Vierra’s preference is for the ultrahide and rawhide (untanned leather) trees. He also uses trees that are custom made to suite the measurement of any horse, which results in a better fit to the horse and closer contact for the rider.

Vierra custom-made saddles can be used for mustering, camp drafting (cutting), trail-riding, equestrian events and general use. All of these laborious offerings are “one off,” a unique method of production that Vierra learned from Darby saddle maker Pete Gorrell, who never built the same saddle twice.

Other old-time traditions Vierra employs: When folks order a saddle, Vierra travels and meets the horse and fits the horse by examining the shape of the animal’s back, and he asks that all his saddle purchasers visit his shop to stick their haunches in the incomplete apparatus to ensure comfort.

“Hand-made doesn’t make a custom saddle and custom means it’s built to fit your rear end,” explains Vierra, adding that a saddle maker who builds a shoddy or defective product won’t be in business long, because horse people ride in small social circles.

The products of Vierra’s effort and endeavor usually average, when fully rigged and ready to ride, about 35 pounds, because he tries “to keep things as light as possible.” The time he spends per saddle ranges from 160-200 hours for ordinary saddles, and up to 400 man hours for pieces requiring detailed tooling. Tooling work or ornamentation, the stamped or gilded designs on leather, can be particularly taxing.

Vierra can build a saddle to fit a multitude of horses, or he can construct a saddle to suite a single horse, building it to the rider’s requirements and the horse’s shape and size, ensuring optimum performance.

“Just like people, all saddles are not alike. Just because it’s a horse doesn’t mean you can buy a saddle in a store and throw it on a horse. A lot of people put their comfort before the horse, but if the saddle doesn’t fit the horse, the horse feels it. If you’ve got an improperly fitted saddle on a horse, sometimes the horse acts up and somebody gets hurt.”

An inadequate saddle can also lead to muscle and chiropractic problems for the rider, says Vierra, who believes that the saddle maker will never be an adroit artifact of the past, because serious horse people will always demand such a capable crackerjack.

Vierra’s saddle making, the working with his hands to create a finished product from what were once just straps of leather and sheets of metal, is certainly an artistic outlet. “I say this to people, some scoff and laugh, but it’s an art,” says Vierra, skiving part of a saddle (shaving the leather thinner.)

“When I’m in the shop it’s an artistic and stress release to be doing what I do, either putting a horn on or hanging rigging, or sewing a candle binding on. I get lost in a zone,” says Vierra, sewing the binding on a nearly finished saddle, which will be complete after a bit more oiling, sticking, glueing, stretching and trimming.

Concentration is important for Vierra, something that can be especially difficult to maintain when he’s a bit weary after a long day (he works full-time as a machinist in Hamilton); good thing Vierra knows when to say when.

“You know, dealing with expensive leather and trees, and sharp tools that can poke and cut, things can go wrong. I’ll walk away for the day when I have to.”

Vierra, who puts his pride of both business and name into each saddle, compares the feelings of saying goodbye to a finished saddle to emotions felt by parents when sending a child off to college. “You put your heart and soul into it and want to see it treated right. I joke about going through a grieving period.”

Being that it’s not a product that you just effortlessly “pump out,” a quality custom saddle, when properly taken care of, should last at least 50 years. Indeed, one has to own a custom saddle to fully enjoy its uniqueness and value.

And finally, the customer must not mistreat the merchandise, certainly not in front of this strict saddle maker.

“If I see somebody just toss it roughly in the back of the truck like a bag of grain, I’ll give them their money back and I’ll keep the saddle. They’ll need to appreciate it.”

Ray Vierra lives in Victor and may be contacted at 642-9543.

Sporting flat breastbones and lacking wing muscles, emus are prehistoric birds originating about 80 million years ago in Australia. The largest bird native to the land Down Under, these creatures are the second-largest flightless birds in the world, after their ostrich relatives.

For the Aborigines these birds are the foundation of existence, because the birds provide them with food, clothing and spiritual sustenance. From the bones utilized for implements and tools, to the hides redistributed for pouches and garments, to the solid fat applied for healing bruises and abrasions, and the pleasant tasting meat, the aborigines have found practical and profitable ways to use emu parts.

Emus arrived in the United States in the 1930s destined for zoos and are farmed throughout the country primarily for their meat, leather and oil. Emu fat is rendered to produce oil for cosmetics, dietary supplements and therapeutic products. In fact, there is some evidence that the oil has anti-inflammatory properties and may have a medicinal benefit.

Also, emu leather has a distinctive patterned surface, due to a raised area around the hair follicles in the skin; the leather is used in such small items as wallets and shoes, often in combination with other leathers. The feathers are used in the automotive and electronic industries as feather dusters, and by fishermen for tying flies. The feathers and eggs are used in decorative arts and crafts.

Wild Rose Emu Ranch in Hamilton is one of three emu ranches in Montana. Owners Clover and Joe Quinn are impressed with the health benefits of emu oil and meat. Indeed, research studies corroborating emu oil’s beneficial properties have been conducted at institutes including Boston University Medical Center and the University of Sydney, Australia.

“Emu oil is good for just about everything for the body from head to toe,” says Clover.

Emu oil comes from a pad of fat in the back of the animal and is so pure it can be applied to a bit tongue, a cold sore or chapped lips. One gallon of oil is processed from every ten to twelve pounds of emu fat.

Emu oil is approximately 70% unsaturated and has a long carbon chain. Enriched with the many beneficial properties of emu oil, Wild Rose’s emu oil products were developed to provide the ultimate in gentle and effective care for the human skin and body. Emu oil has been valued for thousands of years for its legendary healing powers and modern research studies, says Clover, verify that emu oil is an effective anti-inflammatory, comparable to ibuprofen, relieving muscle aches and joint pain.

“Emu oil has natural pain relieving and anti-itching properties,” says Clover.

“Most skin symptoms can be relieved by emu oil, especially deep tissue and rigid tissue disorders. Emu creates a softer, supple and more elastic skin and is wonderful for connective tissue disorders like fibromyalgia.”

Emu oil, says Clover, naturally contains vitamin E, a major antioxidant and healing agent, and vitamin A, a known skin repairer and antioxidant. It also contains proven skin cell regenerators, anti-wrinkle agents, skin softeners and antiseptics.

“It’s an excellent moisturizer because emu is the tiniest of all oil molecules and penetrates and absorbs right into the skin, nourishing the cell and tightening the cell membrane. This prevents damaging skin conditions.”

The natural bacteriostatic, anti-inflammatory and cell regeneration properties of emu oil may help repair minor wounds quickly and with less scarring. These same qualities may also help reverse the effects of hair loss as well as certain chronic skin disorders.

Furthermore, Clover has used emu oil to lessen pain and scarring related to burns and sunburns, to alleviate the discomfort of shingles, and to reduce pain and infection from insect bites and stings.

While emu oil is awesome, emu meat inspires remarkable ranting too. That’s because today’s health conscious consumers are discovering emu meat.

Emu meat is a 98% fat free, low-cholesterol meat (85 mg/100 g), which despite being avian, is considered a red meat because of its red color and pH value. The best cuts come from the thigh and the larger muscles of the drum or lower leg.

The red meat is an excellent alternative for health-conscious consumers who love the taste of traditional red meat, but desire lower cholesterol, fat, and calories.

“Emu is a beef steak with many different and healthy nutrients. There’s nothing in emu meat that’s not great for you” says Clover.

“Since there’s no fat in the emu meat, if you put a pound of meat in the pan, you take a pound of meat out when you’re done cooking.”

Clover says that emu meat should keep for 20 years without degeneration in quality, because there’s no fat in the meat to spoil.

One bird supplies about 30 pounds of meat, which breaks down to about five pounds of steak and filet and 25 pounds of ground beef. (Wild Rose harvests about 1000 pounds of ground beef and 200 pounds of steak and filet yearly.)

Emu meat is packed with protein and high in iron and vitamin B12 and low in calories and cholesterol. And Wild Rose Emu Ranch emus are raised without the use of antibiotics or growth hormones, because such practices make Quinn quiver.

The American Heart Association recently included emu meat in its listing of heart-healthy meats. The tenderness and texture of emu meat enable it to be prepared in a variety of ways. It is best prepared lightly grilled, pan fried, or sautéed.

Quinn says her fondness for emus was love at first sight – and sound. After seeing the animals on a farm in Stevensville, in the 1990s, she was quickly intrigued by the birds’ liquid amber eyes, mesmerizing body movements, boldly confident attitude, and regal strut, and utterly enchanted by the Congo drum droning of the females

“They can change behaviors so instantaneous, and I just love watching them,” says Quinn.

In 1996, after all the housing, electricity and fencing had been built, the Quinns opened an emu pen consisting of four adult pairs and four babies. The venture took shape after Clover convinced Joe that a different, less physical line of work could supplement Joe’s excavation business. Plus, Clover wanted to find something that she could do on her own if Joe was physically unable to keep the excavation business vital.

In 1998, the Quinns started peddling and marketing their exotic meat and oil products at the Hamilton Farmer’s Market, and, yes, folks were fuzzy about the details. “People stopped by my booth all day long wanting to talk about emus,” says Clover.

“I’d be hoarse by the end of the day.”

Nowadays, business at the Wild Rose Emu Ranch is brisk and Clover spends much time sharing her encyclopedic knowledge of these curious birds with visitor and purchaser alike. In fact, years of living and raising emus hasn’t dimmed her interest in these creatures, but only elevated it.

“I’m always telling people that there’s more to these amazing animals than just being a three-letter flightless bird from Australia crossword puzzle answer.”

For more information about the Wild Rose Emu Ranch and emu products, contact Clover Quinn at 363-1710.

Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge routinely “employs” volunteers to help with a variety of Refuge projects. Last year 161 volunteers spent 10,500 hours accomplishing the Refuge mission of plant and animal conservation.

Without volunteers many projects could not be accomplished because of staffing shortfalls. We appreciate all volunteers and thank them profusely for their time and efforts.

Keith and Brenda Krejci have been here at Lee Metcalf NWR since April and are first time volunteers on a National Wildlife Refuge of any kind. What follows is a narrative from Keith of a volunteer activity on the Refuge.

“In my pre volunteering-at-a-wildlife-refuge days, I thought that “bird banding” was some type of avian instrumental group festival - imagine my surprise to find out they actually put little metal bands on birds! Last week Brenda and I had the opportunity to visit and watch while refuge staff and volunteers conducted bird banding.

The banding takes place on the Lee Metcalf Refuge and has been ongoing at the same site for over 10 years. I have to admit I grumbled about having to get up at the crack of dawn (7:00 AM), but she pointed out that Deb Goslin (Biological Technician in charge of the MAPS [Monitoring Avian Productivity] banding station) and the volunteers conducting the banding started at 5:00 AM, so I grudgingly agreed.

I learned that the first recorded bird banding occurred in 1710, when a Gray Heron banded in Turkey was recovered in Germany. Since then, the U.S. program has evolved into a nationwide program of over 500 locations (Lee Metcalf NWR is one of them), each feeding their data to a central location. This information helps to determine populations, migratory patterns, routes, ages, and other valuable information. For example, the longest migratory distance was determined by recovering the band of an Arctic Tern that traveled from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica, a distance of over 25,000 miles!

Arriving at the banding site, we saw that the birds are captured using a series of very fine, large rectangular nets, called “mist” nets, placed in the same position each week during the season so that the data collected has a baseline. Birds that have flown into the net (about 60 during a six-hour period) are placed in a soft cloth bag & taken to the banding station. Handled gently, we watched and were both impressed on the thoroughness of the data that is compiled on each bird. Weight, body dimensions, approximate age, and overall health are recorded, and a feather or two is taken for analysis.

One of the more intricate tasks is to take a swab sample from the bird’s errr.........afterburner. The samples are sent to UCLA where they study the transmittal of avian viruses (harmless & which all birds have) in the hope of learning more about how “bird flu” may be transmitted if it mutates to become a danger to humans. The birds were handled very carefully, and we learned that if they showed signs of stress they were immediately released, or if they had a large brood patch (a fatty area on the stomach that covers the eggs) they were quickly banded and let go to return to their nest. Seeing the birds up close was eye-opening; some of them, like the Bullock’s Oriole, Cedar Waxwing, and the little Yellow Warbler were incredibly beautiful up close.

The highlight of Brenda’s day was holding and releasing the Cedar Waxwing, although it didn’t seem to appreciate her efforts as it kept biting her finger. As a former air traffic controller who’s only previous bird interest was how many and what size impacted an aircraft, this was an enlightening and enjoyable experience.

By the way, I asked Deb what the largest animal captured in the net was; you guessed it - a moose. Unfortunately, the temporarily captured moose took the net, the poles, and a 1/4 acre of dirt with him as he ambled off. Just as well, I don’t think they had a band big enough!”

If you’d like more information on volunteering on the Refuge, call Bob Danley at 777-5552 x203.

A Brown Swiss cow named Katrine embodies Lifeline Farm’s operations as a biodynamic farm. She appears on every package of Lifeline’s cheese, butter, milk and steaks - which are just some of the wholesome all-organic products generated there. The farm’s logo has her munching on red clover that was grown at her home in Lifeline’s fields. The snow-capped majestic Bitterroot Mountains is the logo’s backdrop, a scene she enjoys everyday. She, along with around 80 other cows, produces the milk that will be transformed into what is perhaps the most delectable cheese around.

Though farmer and entrepreneur, Ernie Harvey, has the advantage of running the only local creamery in the Bitterroot (where there were at one time many), and has the only certified organic cow cheese plant in Montana, the quality of his products will always be of paramount importance.

“Lifeline Farms started out in 1978 strictly as a vegetable operation, and is considered the oldest organic farm in Montana. Back then, it was more of a community garden situated on three acres. There was much volunteer help.” Harvey explains.

As time evolved, and the public’s desires for organic food increased, so did the farm. It evolved into a site that accommodated 30 acres of potatoes, and its other lands generated lettuce, squash, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and more. Much of its produce was shipped to the West Coast; some was distributed in Montana.

The mid-80s would bring change to Lifeline when it started its dairy, and the vegetable part of the operations would be somewhat curtailed. Harvey then devoted himself to that end and his partners, Luci Brieger and Steve Elliott, would run the veggie aspect of the farm.

From the get go, Ernie Harvey didn’t intend to process the milk into cheese. Instead, he sold it to the Hamilton House for that task. It later went out of business. Then the milk was shipped to cheese makers in Bozeman, who also went belly up, and owed debt to Lifeline. In turn, Lifeline received cheese-making materials, and the rest, shall we say “is history.”

The Brown Swiss is the ultimate dairy cow. Its milk is of a very high quality with 10 - 20% more yield than the traditional Holstein cow. However, Lifeline’s Brown Swiss cows yield even more cheese than what the same breed does in a commercial setting. It’s because of what they are fed and the quality of life.

The cows eat 100% organic feed, with over 80% of that grown in their backyard, and the rest from the local area. Never, ever would they be fed ground-up animal parts or food that had been sprayed with pesticides. And, when medically necessary, naturopathic remedies are used.

Lifeline cows live a good and humane life. They rotate their time on the pastures, spending one to three days there, and have about 60 days off each year. And, instead of living life in a stall, the cows relax in a deep-litter barn - a big open barn.

Consistent with Lifeline‘s style of business, the cows’ bedding straw becomes an excellent compost, and is one of the main fertilizers used for the pasture and hay fields.

Cows produce the most milk in the summer, making Lifeline’s cows pretty busy during this time of year. However, the demand for milk in the summer substantially decreases. That’s the beauty of cheese.

“Cheese is a way of banking milk,” says Harvey. “It takes about one gallon of milk to make a pound of cheese. The milk is then “cashed in” in the winter in the form of finished cheese which is sold to the consumer.”

In the summer, that makes Lifeline’s cheese making time the busiest, and twice a week they whip out a 1,000-pound batch of cheese. With Harvey’s cheese wizardry, the “happy cows” will make “happy people!”

Making cheese:

The milk is pasteurized to 150 degrees for 20 minutes. Then it’s cooled to a consistent 90 degrees. Harvey adds freeze-dried bacterial culture and begins monitoring the pH. Finally, Harvey adds renin, an enzyme which coagulates the milk-cheese liquid. Upon the correct consistency, Harvey makes cuts horizontally and vertically to release the whey. The whey released accounts for up to 86 percent of the milk that didn’t become cheese. (The whey then becomes a dining experience for the farm’s “happy swine.”)

Depending on the type of cheese being made, the appropriate spicing is added. The cheese is then pressed, vacuumed-sealed in plastic packaging and placed in cool storage where the culturing process continues. The duration in cold storage depends totally on the type of cheese being made.

Mild cheddar is aged for two months. Sharp and extra sharp are looking at over a year to “maturity.” This is where the “banking of cheese” gets nifty. Like a fine wine or good whiskey, the older the cheese, the more it’s worth.

“I call my walk-in coolers ‘Fort Knox’,” Harvey said.

In addition to their out-of-this-world cheeses, Lifeline stocks shelves at various local stores with their milk (the kind where cream rises to the top!), butter, beef, pork, and a host of assorted vegetables.

Lifeline is looking into the future too. What could go better with the cheese in the farm store than wine? That is a direction Harvey is looking into. Local apple cider is also on the horizon.

You can find Lifeline products in Missoula at the Pattee Creek Market, the Good Food Store, and the Orange Street Food Farm. In the Bitterroot go to IGA or Super 1 Foods to find Lifeline products. And if your store is out of your favorite cheese, or other Lifeline products, then by all means go into Lifeline’s own store, just off Main Street behind the Cantina La Cocina, next to the Victor Merc. Maybe you can witness cheese being made there, behind large picture windows, at the back of the store.

Bon Appetite!

Regardless of John Humble’s steady routine, he is full of surprises. The 56-year old bodybuilder, personal trainer and businessman has a fascinating past and an intriguing future.

When most folks his age are winding down a notch, he’s revving his life up. It’s sort of like living two lives. John is a parent to 28-year old twins from a previous marriage, and decided to go another round of parenting. He and his wife, Beth, recently welcomed the newest addition to their family, a baby boy, Ruger. With a new baby and their 4-year old daughter, Denver, John has to continue his commitment to fitness; he intends to be around to see them off to college and more. But, he not only “has” to keep fit, he desires it.

John spent decades in the bodybuilding business, and annually enters national contests (with the exception of this year - he needed to stay put because of the arrival of his baby). He holds many championship titles, and is the National Bodybuilding Champion of 2004 and 2005. Nobody can achieve titles that incredible without working very hard to get there.

Training for such events requires discipline. For starters, John follows what might be a boring diet for many, but it does the job. Up at the early hour of 5:00 o’clock, John has oatmeal with fruit. At 9, he polishes off a protein shake, at noon he eats salad, at 3:00 o’clock he has another protein shake, and at 6, he has fish, chicken or lean meat, rice and some vegetables. Seldom, if ever, does he deviate from this way of eating. That is, except on Saturday. That’s his “treat” day where he allows himself anything and everything, as much as he desires. For John, having a day off from his dieting keeps him sane.

Diet aside, John works out in one way or the other six days a week. He incorporated both cardiovascular and weightlifting training. John doesn’t use steroids. He simply doesn’t believe in using them. So, his bodybuilding championships were obtained by training 100 percent naturally.

Not only has fitness always been a part of his life, as a personal trainer and owner and operator of the Iron Horse Athletic Club in Hamilton, he makes sure anyone who seeks getting fit can obtain that dream.

John is a master personal trainer logging years of experience. He ran Humble Bodies in Missoula for quite a while, but was drawn to Hamilton since it captured more of his essence.

“I was a small-town boy,” John said. “I was born in Anaconda and raised in Deer Lodge. But, I made a full circle.”

The “full circle” John referred to pertained to his grandfather who was Marcus Daly’s foreman. The very building that houses the Iron Horse probably experienced the footsteps of his grandfather. It was Daly’s grandstand for his horse track!

John felt there was a need to build a facility in the Bitterroot Valley to help people get fit. “Life’s quality links to fitness. You cannot be truly healthy if you’re inactive and a couch potato. If you want to get fit, the Iron Horse is where you come.”

One of John’s passions is training senior citizens, and targets the 50+ group. He knows how to provide them with a great workout and keep the aging process at bay. Those clients realize fitness is something they should work at and go to the Iron Horse to be personally trained by John; some are trained by the facility’s other trainers. Most workouts run about 45 minutes, but it can take longer as many enjoy socializing there. But, clients John personally trains find themselves in a private, fully loaded training room. Many prefer the privacy that allows, and they receive a better work-out. It’s hard to blow off any part of the regimen when your trainer is right there!

It doesn’t take long for clients to become more fit. They experience cardiovascular benefits, are stronger, firmer and loose fat.

The Iron Horse is a vast facility housing numerous resistance workout machines, and has various yoga, step, and other workout classes regularly. The club is also incredibly clean. A very affordable fee of $29 a month can get you on your way to better health. The Iron Horse is running a membership special in September to the tune of $2, and a $2 initiation fee.

You can meet John and Beth and check out the Iron Horse Athletic Club facilities at 99 Marcus Street in Hamilton.

Fragile, radiantly beautiful and possessing an unmistakably meditative aura, Dale Jorgensen’s transparent watercolor works symbolize the artist’s own transcendental viewpoint.

In fact, Jorgensen departs from the mode of literal interpretation and intensity that some other forms of art tiresomely cultivate, in favor of a few extravagant and refreshing surprises. Beyond painting landscapes throughout the Bitterroot Valley in pale gray and white, he respects the vivid area’s pragmatic character, by using soaring, vibrant palettes ideal for the quiet contemplation of art.

The ephemeral nature of Jorgensen’s art alludes to revolving landscapes, natural surroundings, and unbridled beauty in general. All of Jorgensen’s landscape images are painted en plein air, that is, outdoors. His signature style places the viewer with the artist, near a rustic barn in a spacious alfalfa field outside Corvallis, with beautiful blossoms an arm’s length away. In different works his flowers and rivers thrive in a watercolor landscape of beaming transparent colors, speckled sunlight, and deep rich shadows. 

Jorgensen, who doesn’t have a studio, can be found during the summer time painting near the East Side Highway, with the warm glow of the sun hitting his back, or snugly bundled up, paint brush in hand, during frigid winter months, on a gravel road north of Pinesdale. “I need to be out there,” says Jorgensen. “It’s funny, but nobody paints in real life. Most people paint in the studio. I wanted to break far away from that.”

Jorgensen utilizes the fact that watercolor is a portable medium; you can pack everything into a small carrier and carry it with you; it dries quickly and the equipment doesn’t take much space. Indeed, his supplies and accessories are somewhat minimal: watercolor boards, sheets of Fabriano Roma paper, a palette, a thick brush, and one Jeep Wrangler. (Fabriano Roma is exquisite handmade cotton paper imported from Italy that’s been used in fine art printing, letterpress, bookmaking, and calligraphy, for thousands of years.)

Despite its freedom, transparent watercolor has one dominant disadvantage for an untutored novice, says Jorgensen, the degree of difficulty controlling the medium.

Generally the beginner, he says, is so excited to begin painting that he or she doesn’t study the mechanics and pitfalls of the medium, like studying the way watercolors bleed and overlap and can seep through several layers.

“I don’t know of any other medium which offers the challenge of transparent watercolor. Disciplined study can make a transparent watercolor artist better, but the medium really can’t be mastered,” says Jorgensen.

While the novice is continually confounded by the mechanics, transparent watercolor veterans (Jorgensen has been painting for over five decades), do somehow develop a ‘second nature’ awareness of the craft.

“Even after all these years, transparent watercolor is a hard medium to understand and do well at. But, you can tell a novice right away because he’s timid and paints in small detail,” says Jorgensen, who humbly admits that he can do little more than control a tiny percentage of transparent watercolor’s characteristics.

“They say that you have to do a hundred watercolors before you do a good one,” he says.

However, Jorgensen encourages folks to experiment with transparent watercolor, because “there’s a wonderfulness and gentleness to it. I don’t know of any other medium that’s as visually rewarding.”

Such knowledge has freed Jorgensen’s soul to express its creativity. The majestic Bitterroot Mountains and its mercurial shifts in light, color and contrast, certainly helps too. “Dramatic wind and rain storms, heavy clouds, you never know how the landscape will change. Things in nature obviously happen quickly and spontaneously.”

The best thing about being an artist, says Jorgensen, is that nothing or nobody conflicts with what you want to do. “You can go out painting when you please. There’s nobody telling you what to do. You’re truly on your own.”

Jorgensen drives around almost every day looking for the right landscape at the right moment. Sometimes paintings happen or arise without apparent external cause; there’s a self-generated intensity to it. Other times it’s not a natural inclination or impulse that makes him put the paint on the paper, it’s caused by the external incitement of vivid scenery or exciting colors.

As a result, Jorgensen’s art brims with emotional content which absorbs the viewer in the presentation. “Creek beds and mountains are very striking and are always changing. As long as I’m not too literal and the light’s right, things may work. Most of the time I can get things done and successfully captured in the first hour. I start with doodling and thumbnails.”

Harboring a disdain for the literal, Jorgensen likes to add his own stylistic embellishment to things. “I respect the literal but I don’t do it. I’ve learned to see other colors in the landscape and take liberties with them.”

The colors Jorgensen uses in his paintings reflects his own personality – spirited, bright shades signaling the traits of a man who’s conversational and outgoing.

“I try to break away from the literal translation by using exciting colors. I want to make sure not to get stuck in a palette rut. I love French Alta marine because it settles out beautifully, and burnt umbers, and Hooker’s green.”

“I finish most paintings on the spot in about two hours, which entails one hour of sketching and one hour of tweaking. The finished product should be a delicious thing and should stimulate, be intense, and should excite.”

Indeed, with Jorgensen’s work the viewer is trapped and engrossed by filling in the blanks, and finding their own meaning. “I just hope that these paintings conjure up some emotions in people. Honestly, I’m thrilled to have my stuff on display. What a great medium, right? This is really something that I’ll do right to the end.”

Thirty of Dale Jorgensen’s transparent watercolor paintings will be on display at the Frame Shop and Gallery in Hamilton, from September 22 – Nov 23. Jorgensen’s artist reception takes place Sept. 22 at 5 p.m. For more info, call 363-6684.

Back in the mid 1970s, I sat in my combine taking the year’s harvest off the fields and dreaming of the day I could put all the machinery away for the winter and go on a trip. I had it in my head that I wanted to start climbing mountains. I had this romantic idea that I could travel to exotic places, climb mountains, have many adventures and make all my hard work in the summer pay off. I had never climbed mountains, but felt that it would be a great challenge and adventure while leaving me with a lifetime of memories. Having never climbed before I wasn’t quite sure how to start. I read about a slide show coming up at the University of Montana that involved the adventure of a climber scaling Mount McKinley, then skiing down from the summit. I decided to attend the event and see if I could learn something about mountaineering that would help me get into the sport. On a cool October evening I drove into Missoula for Rick Sylvester’s slide show.

The slide show was real impressive to a farmer who had never ventured far off the seat of his tractor. I was enthralled by the scenery, the accomplishment, and, most of all, the adventure of his trip. When Rick finished the slide show I approached him and asked him what I needed to know, to become a good mountaineer. I will never forget the look he gave me. I felt that I had just asked the man the stupidest question he had ever heard. He pretty well shrugged me off with a short reply. “You climb, of course”. I was really disappointed in the answer he gave me, because it didn’t seem to satisfy my hungry thirst to learn to climb. Right then and there I decided, “to hell with Rick Sylvester I will learn this on my own.” I drove home with a million thoughts racing through my mind trying to come up with a plan to start my mountaineering quest.

Within two weeks of getting back from the slide show I had picked out a mountain in Mexico that was the fifth highest peak in North America called Popocatepetl. I jumped in my ¾ ton truck and drove to Houston Texas to see if I could find a cheap flight to Mexico City. At that time gas prices where in the .30 cent range so a trip to Houston from Montana was about $40.00. When I arrived in Houston I began my search for climbing equipment. My budget was another $40.00 and for that amount I expected to outfit myself with an ice axe, crampons, clothing, sleeping bag etc. I had to be real careful about the money I spent because I only had a couple of hundred dollars to fly down to Mexico City, stay for a week and buy all of my supplies. To any rational human being this would not be possible, but for a twenty-year-old kid all my ideas seemed pretty clear. I was going to climb that damn mountain period!

Houston, as could be expected, turned out to be a poor place to find climbing gear, especially when my budget was extremely low. I finally found an army surplus store and bought a miniature pickaxe that I would substitute for an ice axe. At the same store I found an old backpack and a wool blanket I would use for a sleeping bag. I was ready to go except for the crampons, which I had decided to find once I arrived in Mexico City. I found a relatively cheap airplane flight to Mexico City that would bring me back to Houston the following weekend, but after the flight was purchased I only had enough money to spend about $15.00 in Mexico and gas money back to Montana. “What the hell,” I told myself, “life is an adventure”. I boarded the plane and was off to Mexico.

As the plane circled Mexico City I was shocked at the sights below. I had never been out of the United States or Canada and had never seen a third world country. People lived in shacks in utter poverty. My new reality was starting to sink in. At the airport I was again shocked to find out that very few people spoke English. I had not prepared myself for the language barrier and now wondered how the heck I was going to get around. Someone finally came by and helped me get on a bus that would take me to the center of the city where I was hoping to find the Alpine club headquarters.

At the headquarters of the club I met a woman by the name of Olga who could speak a few words of English. Olga looked like the woman they use on the ads that said, “isn’t smoking glamorous”. Olga was wrinkled beyond reason and smoked one cigarette after another. Despite her appearance she was kind and told me she would help me find someone to climb the mountain with. There were a lot of parties heading up the mountain in the next day or so and if I waited long enough one of them would take me. Olga was also kind enough to offer me a place on the floor of her office to sleep on. As night approached the strain of my adventure had finally caught up with me. I took out my wool blanket and slept on the hard floor of the office.

Late the next day I met up with a young woman named Rosario who was heading up the mountain with some friends. They planned to stay at the pass between Iztaccihuatl and Popocatepetl in a hut near the Vincente Guerrero Lodge. The drive up was as exciting as anything I had ever experienced. We stopped at every car accident along the way because most of the group I was with had emergency medical training. I was shocked to see them rummaging through the car wrecks looking for goods to loot as if it was a given right to take what they could find.

We also stopped at several markets in the town of Amecameca enjoying the food and customs of the town. Late that night we arrived at the hut exhausted. I threw what little clothing I had down on the stone floor and tried to sleep with my wool blanket draped over me. I nearly froze to death during the night and was forced from my bed at four in the morning by Rosario and her friends to begin our climb. My next disappointment was to find out that Rosario was my climbing partner instead of some of the better male climbers. I was polite enough to follow directions, but I refused to give up my pickaxe for a real ice axe. I strapped the crampons they gave me to my backpack and we headed up the trail to climb Popocatepetl.

I had little knowledge at the time of the affects of altitude, but before long Rosario was well out in front of me. I couldn’t believe that this young woman was kicking my ass up the mountain. I would try to catch up with her in short fast bursts, but would end up almost losing all of my breath and would have to sit down to recover. Rosario in turn would tell me to slow down, pick a pace and breath. “Who the hell did she think she was?” I’d say to myself, “I’m the one that’s supposed to be the climber.”

After what seemed like days I made it to the crater edge and then to the summit. I was now sick with a real bad case of altitude sickness. If it had not been for my new friends I would have died on the mountain. Rosario stuck with me all the way down the mountain forcing me to get up at the times I insisted on lying down to die. Rosario and I missed our ride home with our friends, but we did find a ride with another group later in the evening. With my last bit of money I purchased a cheap hotel room in downtown Mexico City and slept 14 hours. Rosario picked me up the next day and kindly drove me to the airport.

On my flight home I was terribly depressed that all of my plans to be a mountain climber had been dashed. The climb was the most miserable experience I had ever had. There was nothing romantic about it. Up to that point in my life I don’t remember having vomited as much as I had on the slopes of Popocatepetl. I was left with the idea that I would have to find another quest.

It took some time, but I began looking on my adventure in different ways. I had learned so much in that one week despite my miserable performance on the mountain. I had come to realize what an ass I could be through the humbling experience of being out performed by a young lady. I learned about a new culture and a people who despite their own poverty where quite willing to help someone else. I also learned how to plan my adventures and prepare properly for them. And since that time I have climbed hundreds of peaks, even repeating Popocatepetl in a more graceful fashion.

As for Rick Sylvester the slide show host, I have not heard much about him in thirty years of climbing, but I am sure he was probably right with his curt answer, “Just climb”. I am sure I would be a little more forthcoming if asked the same question.

When I arrived in Houston, I was broke and had to find a job to get enough money to make it back to Montana, which turned out to be an adventure in itself. To this day, I still have my friend Rosario in Mexico City.

Jim Wilson is the owner of Pipestone Mountaineering, Missoula’s premier outdoor store. 721-1670.