Our first young gun is 1 1 year old Joey Knappenberger. Yes, he is my very own prodigious progeny. He is also a skilled potter with an highly refined style for someone so young. The biggest limitations to his art are the length of his fingers, but the good news is that as he grows so do his pots -literally! Joey got a kick wheel for his ninth birthday, but has been throwing clay since he was 7, learning what he know from the Archie Bray Foundation, Vanessa Rodgers at the Emerson, and Ryan Mitchell whom he considers his master. Joey is also known for his good-natured wit and humor which gives him a distinctive style in his 2-D work as well. He was recently given the honor of creating a design for his school's annual art festival and auction. His giraffe and blue bird duo were rendered into a pieced cloth banner that will hang in the hall of the school each year during the festival.

This is the inaugural post Design Prodigy of a blog dedicated to the talented YOUNG artists and designers that I get to work with. We're not talking about recent graduates, or even high school savants. We are talking about designers and artists as young as five and as old as twelve. Bozeman has a wealth of super smart kids that create everything from business cards to skate board decks, from ceramics to mixing music. Several have entered their designs into competition both locally and nationally with great success! This space will be dedicated to the projects that we work on together, as well as spotlighting individuals and the works that they do on their own. These kids already have enviable talent and understanding of visual communication! They will be the rocks stars of the future!

DESIGN PRODIGY