It’s not every day you get the opportunity to reset and go back to a simpler way of life. LA-based photographer Jenavieve and partner, Kyle take us on their journey of renovating a 1920’s farmhouse.

LA-based photographer Jenavieve Belair is from Minnesota where growing up meant days spent in gardens by lakes and running through open land.

After discovering a 1920 farmhouse that sits on 5 acres, she and her partner furniture maker, Kyle Titterud knew they’d found the place to make that dream a reality.

This new venture has added miles to Jenavieve’s commute as a photographer based in LA and San Francisco but coming home to the farmhouse, @almond.oak.ranch already has its rewards.

Kyle grew up buying and selling antique furniture with his grandmother. In examining antique pieces, she taught him the value of dependable production and how beautiful pieces can surpass generations. In developing his personal style, he prioritized learning from the best craftsman and in his education, he learned the art of forging timeless pieces – just like the ones his grandmother taught him to appreciate.

As Kyle traveled the world, he’s been inspired by global craftsman, their processes, and designs. Through these experiences, The New Craftsman was born. Kyle is compelled by creating pieces that combine a traditional hand working style with a simplistic yet beautiful design, while retaining the soul of a long-lasting piece.

His new studio on the almond farm was one of the original buildings on the lot back in the 1920’s complete with an original almond tree right next to it. He set out to remodel by running new electrical, insulation, drywall, new windows, and doors. He painted the exterior black which gives the building a modern edge. Next, Kyle is putting up sugi ban cedar siding, which is Japanese burnt wood siding. He’s also extending the back for a wood mill and kiln to dry his own lumber from fallen trees. The end goal is to be completely sustainable while being powered by existing solar panels and milling lumber from fallen trees around the San Luis coast.

Truly a labor of love.

Renovating the farmhouse is the couple’s next great adventure. The first project at hand is remodeling and modernizing the space while staying true to the farmhouse style. Kyle’s craftmanship and woodworking have served well. Next is soil testing for a lavender field and organic farm. They have big plans for the future that include a ceramics studio, crops, and adding to their 3 dogs, 5 chickens, a rooster, and duck. They hope to add goats and horses eventually. Follow their journey here.

By Tyler Ellison

Born in Dallas, Texas, Kirk Thurmond is a singer/songwriter with a distinctive sound that spans several genres, including soul, pop, and R&B, with authenticity remaining at the core.

No dress hat beats the Stratoliner for understated character and stately presence. Made from high-quality felt and dyed in versatile shades perfect for all occasions, this fedora features a flattering teardrop crown. The classic styling is underscored by details like a grosgrain hat band, special edition Stratoliner airplane hat pin, and an interior roan leather sweatband.

The Taylor Stitch and Stetson partnership hits its stride with denim. These pieces have an inimitable look, tendency to feel better after each wash and wear, and spot on ruggedness. Kirk wears the Democratic Jean.

Growing up in Dallas, Kirk was always surrounded by music. The 3-part harmony lessons from his father, coupled with the household soundtrack of soul giants, it seems he always knew what he would be doing with his life. “I can’t really remember a time when I wanted to be anything else. For a while there, it was the thing in my life that made the most sense.”

Antonio James lives in Brownsville, TX. He’s a photographer, family man, and all-around cowboy.

Photography by Ivan McClellan

My name is Antonio and I was born and raised in Detroit, MI. I have a beautiful wife, some amazing nieces, and nephews, and family I wouldn’t trade for the world.

Let’s start there.
How does a kid raised in the city grow up to be a full-on Cowboy?

To answer that I have to go back to my mothers side of the family tree. My mother was raised in Prentiss, MS so even though I grew up in the city I was raised on Southern Hospitality. Taught the Cowboy Code well before I knew it was the Cowboy Code. My Mom and Dad raised us on “Yes Sir, No Mam, Hold the door for a lady, Respect your elders, Love your family, Lend a hand to all and leave the judging to up there, Remove ya hat when you pray, & All glory to god”.

Uncle Willie has been the head of our family on my mother’s side for as long as I can remember and til this day I’ve never met a cowboy that comes close to him. We’d go down to his ranch in the summers and I’d just be amazed. Someone with my blood with all of these animals, all this land, and most of all, so much humility. I looked up to him.

Uncle Willie is the loudest and proudest man you’ll ever meet. Instilled in us the importance of Family. He’d tell us all of his cowboy stories, all about the good ol days when he was roping. I didn’t really bond to it until I was older already but I just easily fit into it because the most important part about being a cowboy is the heart of gold we are taught to carry and I’ve had that since the day my family tree was created. I also was taught and understood I have to do my own roping, no matter how good my uncle was. Our roots run deep, and our hearts run strong.

A lot of people think “Cowboy” and they think of two different things: “Two revolvers on the hip” or “Bullriding, Roping, Ranching, and so on”. While I do rope, ranch, and “YeeYee” with a cold beer I don’t think that’s what makes me a Cowboy. That definitely isn’t what makes Uncle Willie a Cowboy. I think a cowboy is any man that takes whatever the world throws at him, picks up his grit, and rides with it like GOLD.

Most my buddies say I stand out in the Photography Community because I carry the cowboy heart into it. I’m a wild lil heart of gold. I’m ready for anything you throw at me. I’m known to see a hurricane coming and run towards it. I was told at the beginning if I wanted to be a successful photographer I had to lose the Cowboy in me.

Watch my tongue, Calm my act (you know the Hollywood stuff). I said “it ain’t like I can hide it” and turned the cowboy up even more. People love it because while we may be the wildest souls you’ve met on dirt, it ain’t nothing can’t depend on us for.

Words and photos by Sofia Jaramillo

In Season is a shared creative culinary venture that provides high quality, organic and locally sourced nourishment to gatherings under the Tetons in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Teton Valley, Idaho by Franny and Blaine.

Just like their connection to the food they source, their relationship with each other is strong. Blaine grew up in the Tetons. Franny grew up just south of Munich, Germany, but moved to Jackson in high school where she met Blaine. They bonded over their shared love for food and zest for adventure.

In 2016, a bike trip across the Alps in Germany changed their lives. Along the way, they connected with farmers and the land. They learned about the pastoral food chain in the Alps and how it functions with the seasons. They arrived back in the United States inspired to practice the traditions they learned and ready to start a business.

Over 3 years ago, Franny and Blaine created In Season, a wood-fired pizza trailer business that goes beyond the traditional understanding of catering. With ethos centered around nourishment, community and the earth, they’ve transformed what started as a small sourdough bread share company, stationed out of their garage, into a unique mobile food experience.

Sara Jaramillo visits Franny and Blaine in Teton Valley, Idaho to share their Stetson Story.

We walk through a large canyon filled with lush berry bushes and flowers.  Franny and Blaine are foraging for edible plants for their next menu. With the help of their friends, Jenna and Amanda of Parakolo Provisions, and some books for referencing, they move patiently and presently through the canyon floor, their eyes peeled for edible treats like huckleberries, wild dandelion greens, anise and yarrow.

Nourishment. Community. Earth.

— In Season

Franny and Blaine have worked to develop authentic connections with local farmers and purveyors of their community as well as the land in order to make their venture work. It takes a village.

Blaine wears the Route 66 hat and the Modern Snap Front Western Shirt.

Franny wears the Bozeman Outdoor Hat and the Denim Jumper.

Franny picks up goat cheese from the local Winter Winds Goat Farm in the morning. Young goats bounce around us gleefully and baby kittens roam the property. Later that day, they source veggies at Sweet Hollow Farm. With a warm smile co-owner Jonah Sloven, hands Franny a box full of fresh greens, squash, radish, carrots and herbs. Soon this brilliant package of fresh goods will end up on dinner plates for their guests. At both farms, I noticed the collective power of Franny and the owners. Together the farms and In Season are a strong force working to keep food systems local and sustainable.

Using high-quality organic vegetables from farms and locally sourced edible plants, each menu they make provides nourishing and healthy ingredients.

They are in tune with the forest and the farms and deliver food unique to each season.

In order to take their concept on the road, they launched a Kickstarter in February successfully raising enough funds to purchase a 1990’s horse trailer to build a mobile wood-fired oven.

Now with the finished trailer, they are offering backyard Sourdough Pizza Workshops. They hope to bring communities together while teaching about the value of locally sourced food.

What they offer isn’t simply a dinner, it is a transformative experience into the spiritual world of food.

For their first pizza workshop experience in Wilson, WY, Franny and Blaine show up to the dinner ready to share their respect for the food they source and an ever-evolving willingness to adapt. Professional stylist Mika Dubbe decorates a long picnic table with hand dyed clothes, local wildflowers and fruits. Aspen leaves chatter in the wind and the wood-fired oven burns. They rewild the palette of their guests. Sharing information about the ingredients of each course, they connect the bellies and minds of their guests to the greater Yellowstone ecosystem’s food system.

For Franny and Blaine, their business is not only about how beautiful each dish looks or how delicious it tastes, it’s also about giving their guests something beyond the typical dining experience. The food they provide is not only exquisite, but the experience is unforgettable. They provide space to unwind, relax and connect to the land. With full bellies and replenished minds, guests leave the evenings experience with a new understanding of the power of community and food.

Emilé Zynobia wasn’t born out West but she found herself out in Wyoming. She recounts her journey of diversity in the West and becoming a cowgirl like no other.

Photography by Sofia Jaramillo. Words by Emilé

I wasn’t born in the West but living out here is the closest I’ve come to finding myself. Open country, open range feels as earnest a drive in me as lungs expanding towards air. So, it never bothered me too much that I didn’t look much like my counterparts in Wyoming. You don’t exactly choose this place for the abundance of people.

Skyline 6X

Out here, I learned quick that all that matters is the quality and honesty of your try. And though the characters that make up this land aren’t for everyone, sprinkled among them are some of the most welcoming, self-reliant, and generous beings ever to exist. Truth be told, I’ve always had a soft spot for the gritty kind, those folks carved out of rough country.

I was a quiet plump thirteen when my grandparents dropped me off at Puzzleface Ranch to learn to ride. There I first met Terry Judd sitting in the shade alongside her dad. Her, a searing force of a woman with a laugh that could crack open the sky. Her father, a cheeky old man in a Canadian tuxedo with rolled sleeves revealing tattoos sun withered and wavering. Behind them, the wall of the original tack room nailed to its squared logs and aged chinking, a hodgepodge of sun-kissed and gnarled cowboy boots.

With the warmth and unflinching force of a chinook wind, she asked “What size are you?” A question that now feels to gather and answer so much more than the simple numeric dimension of a boot. 

Shyly I reply, “8.”

She shot back without pause.

Terry’s presence is reminiscent of the heeler that lives in her shadow. Small in stature, yet deceptively strong and quicker than quick. I like to think the bumper sticker “well-behaved women rarely make history” was made for her. The kind of complicated and resilient human romantically opined about in your favorite western. I credit her with busting my ass and teaching me manners. Even more important, she taught me to relax and let go. 

I’d spent most of my life bumping around inner cities, so imagine my surprise at seeing mountains let alone straddling a 1,000 lb animal. For a kid who lacked any and all control, being able to wield it and rein it meant everything.

I returned every summer obsessed, eventually progressing from student to teacher. And when my head got too big, Terry set me straight on bareback. Long days working at that ranch taught me lessons and qualities of character I never encountered in school. As I’ve aged, I can’t say those same elements of confidence, discipline, and conviction are always readily with me; still, I know the feel of it, the foundation always remains.

“Stories are lifeblood, it is what the west trades in, the exchange of oral currency makes our ties to place more complete. This is why the West looms large and romantic in the minds of many, but what when the common conception doesn’t include you? That is not to say I don’t enjoy what sets me apart, but rather at times I question if this heritage is rightfully mine to claim.”

Then this sort of bittersweet ripple in time appears, and you begin to take note of the emerging stories that paint a different notion of the old West and new West, one where black and brown women, cowboys, range riders, and vaqueros were formative to the successes made out of this rough country.  

Suede Fringe Skirt

Women like Johanna July, a famous black Seminole horsebreaker, or “Stagecoach Mary,” a black female star route mail carrier. Or more contemporary stories like that of Larry Callies of the Black cowboy museum, the Compton Cowboys in L.A, Cowgirls of Color, or the first black rodeo queen in Arkansas Ja’Dayia Kursh. And you realize just like any other person who found themselves in this world; you come by your love of the lifestyle and the freedom you find upon a horse honestly.

Seth & Katelyn are both from rural, northwestern Pennsylvania.  Seth often makes the joke that there are more cows than people where they’re from, but that was before he came to Fossil, OR.

Photography by Andrew Stanbridge

As for how they came to Oregon, Katelyn was in her first year of graduate school and Seth was working on a farm.  They were chatting one evening after a particularly grueling day of work for Seth, and Katelyn asked him what he’d prefer to be doing and where.  He said that he always wanted to live in Oregon ever since his grandfather inspired a love of the old west. As for Katelyn, she fell in love with Oregon from the first drive through the ‘Gorge’ on I-84. They knew where they were destined to be.

Buffalo Kin is because of Fossil in a sense.  When Seth came to Fossil to teach, he began exploring the musical traditions of Appalachia and the old west more in-depth.  And, something just clicked for both of them. Neither had ever expected to love, appreciate, and perform the music that they do now, but, that high lonesome sound just speaks to them just like Fossil did. Fossil brings a quiet that is freeing to some and stifling for others.  For them, it brings the connection to everything into a wide focus: the history, the land, the people. This is where they pull their inspiration and why they choose to evoke the emotions or experiences that they do in their music.

Seth & Katelyn have always been fortunate that playing music is just for themselves. They play and create when and what they want. This is a privilege. They do write music, but, they always leave room for the standards.  There’s a reason that’s what they are.  As they said earlier, music for them is a way to connect to the world, its troubles & its triumphs.

If you would like to follow them or catch them playing (when they can play venues again), you can find them on Instagram @buffalo_kin.