LIA Newsletter 8

New Listings

I took this photo from the deck of my cousin Sharon’s riverfront camper in Parkersburg, West Virginia last May. I like the image, and I hope others will as well.

A potential customer in New Jersey wrote me about a mug I have for sale featuring a 1951 green Willys Jeep pickup. She asked if I could make the Jeep orange. I replied that it would be better if she could supply a photograph of the truck she wanted on a mug, and she sent me this photo.

Tuesday, on a shopping trip to Polson, Montana, I was captivated by the clouds seemingly pinned to the tops of the Mission Mountains. I took several photographs, but I particurely like this view I captured just north of the town of Ronan, Montana. It will go with my Distinctly Montana profile of Lake County.

What I’m Up To

The biggest news in my life currently is that cousin Ron has decided it’s time for him to return home. I hate to see him go, but he feels there are things he needs to attend to. I will be driving east with him, then flying back to Montana.

This means that I have several deadlines approaching that I need to address before I can leave.

As you may know, I write the regular Get to Know a County feature for Distinctly Montana Magazine. The magazine comes out quarterly, and since the Spring issue 2020, my work has been in every issue. For Fall 2025, I profiled Golden Valley County, just north of Billings, Montana. You can read my article here.

I bring this up because my deadline for the Winter 2026 issue is November 1st. If I’m away from my computer for two weeks in the middle of October, I’d best get that next article done before I leave. And just to let you know, the next issue will feature Lake County, north of Missoula.

I also want to get my coffee table book, Mile by Mile Around Flathead Lake off to the printer. I don’t have a lot to finish up, but it will still take a bit of my rapidly diminishing time.

Finally, I bought 62 bulbs: crocuses, hyacinths and tulips, that need to be planted this fall so that they’ll bloom next Spring. This means weeding and cleaning up one of the flower boxes in the back yard. I’m tired just thinking about it.

Recent Sales

For the second week in a row, someone liked this mug enough to buy it from me. This time it was a customer in Ohio who ordered the mug, in her case an all-white one.

A customer in North Carolina bought this 15 oz mug showing a beautiful blue 1957 Thunderbird.

A customer in Montana bought this 2026 Calendar featuring my photographs of National Parks of the West. This is one of eight calendars I have available at this time. I will be adding more, and you can find all in my Etsy, lightintoart shop here.