Russell J. Hawley attended the University of Colorado in 1985 with the intention of becoming a professional palaeontologist. He took classes in geology, biology, zoology, comparative anatomy, and human anatomy and physiology. Then he took calculus and failed it. He took it again and failed it again. After failing calculus for the third time, he switched his major to fine art. He has not regretted it for a single day.

Russell's artwork has appeared in America's Smithsonian Anniversary traveling exhibition, games, coffee mugs, Prehistoric Times magazine, Mike Everhart's Oceans of Kansas, and Dr. Dale Russell's Islands in the Cosmos. He also drew quarry maps for Dr. Bakker during his Como Bluff days.

After moving to Wyoming in 1997, Russell began volunteering at the Tate Geological Museum at Casper College. After several months the director realized Russell was not going to leave and started paying him a salary. His current work includes giving tours, writing for the museum newsletter, producing illustrations for museum displays, and writing and illustrating Fossil Critters of Wyoming. His one-man show, A Thousand Unnamed Worlds, ran for two years at the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne.

Russell gives tours, writes articles, produces museum illustrations, and has been showing up at the Tate Geological Museum long enough that they eventually had to start paying him. That level of love for what you do is exactly what ArtFair Apparel is about!!

We love having Russell as part of the ArtFair family. His work carries incredible scientific knowledge and a genuine sense of thoughtfulness in his art, a combo that's pretty hard to beat.

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