Christopher Schmidt   |   Digital Art

Artist Statement
I’m a Houghton-based digital illustrator and graphic designer based in Houghton. I got my start while in college at Michigan Tech making posters for bike and ski races and t-shirt designs for campus organizations, all in pen and ink. After graduating with degrees in physics and geophysics, I worked in industry overseas for a decade, largely forgetting that I’d ever dabbled in the graphics arts. Returning to the Keweenaw in 2004, however, I quickly returned to my old ways and again started designing posters for any race that would have me – this time with the benefit of illustration software (Adobe Illustrator).
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Dozens and dozens of race and event posters eventually led to commercial design work, but also to the realization that I’d rather be telling my own stories in pictures than someone else’s. That’s when I branched out and started exploring some of the iconic sights and activities that make the Keweenaw the place that it is. Boiling the scenes down to their core, the images I create are often low on detail but deliver the essence of a location or activity with clean lines and bright colors.

​Over the past ten years, I’ve largely left my career as a geophysicist, software developer and technical translator for life as a digital 

artist. I’m still creating race and event posters but focus more on the beauty of the Upper Peninsula and endeavors I’m passionate about (cycling and skiing in all of their variants). I work from my retail studio in downtown Houghton, Studio 13, where I can be found most days, unless out exploring the region with my family.

Website: xmaticdesign.com
Instagram: @thirteenhertz
E-mail: [email protected]
Store: Studio 13, 323 Shelden, Houghton MI