Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A • W I N T E R 2 0 1 9 50 "I tried to collect documents from all the various communities where I knew my tribe would have migrated through the area before those communities even existed," Guardipee said. "I started using pretty much any old document I could find that I think my ancestors would have used if they had had an opportunity to acquire those things. It really makes my collages come alive be- cause of the history of the state of Montana and the communities around Montana." at includes areas around Virginia City, Red Lodge, Missoula, Helena, Great Falls, Butte, Anaconda, points elsewhere. Pepion, similarly, mentions the Sweet Grass Hills, Chief Mountain and Heart Butte Mountain as places that influence his art. Sometimes he'll also paint the less majestic—little Birch Creek, for example, which runs near his family home. POWER Both Pepion and Guardipee will use, with permission, Blackfeet designs from tipi covers or other traditional art. Pepion uses colors he associates with the Blackfeet, although he prefers to call his people Piikani, with that spelling. "I have particular colors based on a lot of the colors in a lot of our beadwork. I just like the colors that are comfortable being from this place—the land, the skies, the beadwork." Pepion adds that he is also influenced by the 19th century art of one of his ances- tors, Big Brave, that same Blackfeet leader whom the American military knew as Mountain Chief. "When I do horses sometimes, there will be a green horse or a blue horse or a red horse. How I got those horses that color is from Big Brave's winter counts and war records. He did a lot of horses that color," Pepion said. Guardipee's art uses the same tools 19th century Blackfeet artists used, but he al- lows himself the full range of 21st century colors. "I use what they used back in the old days, colored pencils. I'll outline it with a black ink, the same way they would have done it back in the old days. e only difference is, I have hundreds of colors to pick from, so my im- ages can be very bright, real bold, powerful colors," Guardipee said. "I want it to be powerful and electrifying and give off the feel of energy and power." Another source of that energy is embedded in the paper. "e paper's very powerful; it has a lot to say, especially when it comes to Montana. I try to use all Montana paper as much as I possibly can because so many things happened in the state of Montana with the Blackfeet and various other tribes that lived there," Guardipee said. "In my art those triangular designs represent mountains, the backbone f the world, which is now Glacier National Park. It's a very, very significant place to us." Appaloosa, Pepion Elk Hunt, Pepion Over 400 Gifts and Souvenirs to Choose From • visit us online at: www.distinctlymontanagifts.com hand-crafted Always Montana-Made QUALITY HEART IN MONTANA WALL ART MONTANA HAND-DRAWN MAP MONTANA SAPPHIRE RING THREE STONE TURQUOISE AND SILVER NECKLACE FULL MOON OVER BRIDGERS NECKLACE MONTANA STATE SAPPHIRE NECKLACE COWGIRL MONTANA BRACELET MONTANATUDE T-SHIRT DESIGNS Best Sellers at GRIZZLY BEAR PAW TRACK WILDLIFE MONTANA BELT BUCKLE

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