COURTESY OF KATIE EARIXSON
Katie Earixson's banners, created to commemorate Steamboat Creates' 50th Anniversary, depict iconic Steamboat Springs scenes.
A Banner Year
COURTESY OF KATIE EARIXSON
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Katie Earixson
hen she first moved to Steamboat Springs, Katie Earixson would play a game with her partner that they called “The Perfect Steamboat Day.” “We had this short list of things that would make the most 'Steamboat' day ever,” she says. The activities the couple imagined included hot air balloon viewing, bike riding, fireworks, and live music. In celebration of Steamboat Creates’ 50th Anniversary, Steamboat Creates asked her to turn this “perfect Steamboat day” vision into a series of banners on Lincoln Avenue this summer. Earixson created gouache paintings using a mix of watercolor and acrylic paint on black paper. Consisting of six images in total, the project features the most iconic of Steamboat activities: live music, hot air ballooning, biking, fishing, skiing and horseback riding. “The idea was to celebrate the magic of Steamboat,” Earixson says. “Our town itself is very vibrant, with lots of interesting people who like to really live life to the fullest. Steamboat really knows how to have a party.” Earixson stuck to this theme not only with the project’s subject matter, but with her art style. “Each has a little bit of ‘sparkle,’” she says. “The light here sparkles to me, and that just ties into this magical experience.” This was the first project of this kind that Earixson has worked on, as much of her other work is in mixed media, most notably designing the packaging for Seedhouse Coffee several years ago. “I saw that project as a mini celebration of Steamboat and the surrounding area,” she says. “That’s how I see the banners too.”
26 • Volume 16, Edition 1, 2022
