Friday, January 30, 2015

Ladies and Gents...Yer Cow

It's with great excitement, exhilaration, hullabaloo and other synonyms that I present to you good people the official 2015 Kansas City Irish Fest cow. This year's bovine beauty is the creation of my old friend Payton Kelly, who I've known for nearly 30 years, since we were both one and a half years old, give or take. You may know Payton's work through his non-cow-related job as the creative force behind all those great and award-winning Boulevard Brewing Co. graphics. 

Payton is one of the most talented people I've ever known, and having spend my life in creative endeavors, that's saying something. I say that not only because he did this illustration in exchange
for a weekend's free beer at Irish Fest, but also because it's true. Here's his face and his official bio:

 Payton Kelly’s association with the local craft beer scene dates back to the mid 1980s, when he homebrewed with John McDonald, who went on to found Boulevard Brewing Company a few years later. The result of that collaboration suggested that Payton’s talents were better suited for things that go on the outside of the bottle, so John asked him for help designing the very first labels, in 1990. Never one to turn down free beer, Payton designed virtually every Boulevard brand that followed, more than 50 to date. Since 1995 he has been full-time Creative Director for the brewery. Payton earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Missouri State University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Oregon. Before joining Boulevard he spent 11 years as an artist with Hallmark Cards, designing greeting cards for Shoebox Greetings and teaching printmaking in the Rice Innovation Center.

For those of you who may be new to the whole Irish Fest/cow thing, here's a primer. 

Thank you, Payton! And welcome to the herd!

  

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Welcome to the party - new cow!

Martha said...

She makes me giggle!