This past weekend Mike, The Small Boy, and I attended the second annual nerd conference known as Hutchmoot. It is an incarnation of the virtual Rabbit Room, which I started following several years ago after finding out that these people like to read the same kinds of things I do. Since then I've become a fan of the musicians and other artists who are involved, and of course I love having to opportunity to meet the Rabbit Roomers in real life.
I should have known I would like these people when I found out that a lot of them are fans of this guy:
'nuf said.
The downside of Hutchmoot? Sadly, it does not involve knitting, sewing, climbing, or photographing small children. Even so, the creativity flows. Last year and this year I walked away from the conference just loaded with encouragement about allowing myself to be creative.
These people love Jesus and art. What a great combination.
So I have a lot of pictures from the conference. I didn't get shots of everyone involved, but here's what I have.
Andrew Peterson. Proprietor of the Rabbit Room, musician, and one of our favorite authors.
Pete Peterson. Organizer of the Hutchmoot and an author.
Sally Lloyd-Jones. The keynote speaker at the conference and author of the Jesus Storybook Bible, which is our absolute favorite bible storybook. I highly recommend it for anyone to read no matter what your age.
Jonathan Rogers. Yet another writer of books.
S.D. Smith. Writer.
Here he is at a talk on children's literature.
Travis Prinzi. Professional nerd and yes, writer. (And I mean that nerd part in a good way.)
Matt Conner. Pastor, writer, and kitchen helper.
And speaking of the kitchen, one of the best parts of the conference is the food. Seriously. It may look like a church basement dinner, but there is no cream of mushroom soup here.
See that woman way over on the left? That is Evie Coates, the fantastic cook who runs the kitchen. But catering wonderful food to a hundred or so people at a time is just a hobby. In real life she's a teacher and a visual artist.
I didn't get a good photo of Evie, but I got a great one of her truck:
If I could haul 5 kids around in it, this would be my dream truck.
A big suprise at Hutchmoot this year was another visual artist, Justin Gerard.
I didn't expect to stumble upon a new favorite, but I'm happy to have been introduced to his work.
Justin Gerard and Russ Ramsey.
The merch table, which was strategically placed so that it tempted us many, many times a day. We may or may not have bought a new pile of books to haul home.
The custom hand-made Rabbit Room mugs. Do I have to admit that we bought a couple of these too?
To anyone who was at Hutchmoot this year, I hope to see you again in 2012!
Great pics!
Posted by: Dan Kulp | September 29, 2011 at 09:48 PM
Oh my goodness! Looking at all those pictures brought back so much of the warmth and love of the weekend. Thanks for posting.
Posted by: Sally Zaengle | September 30, 2011 at 07:00 AM
I have been a Justin Gerard fan for several years now--I don't know if I know anyone else who knows about him. :) I first saw his work in his illustrations for The Lightlings (in my opinion the pictures are better than the text), and then I bought D a canvas reproduction of a painting he did of the wall of Jerusalem being rebuilt under Nehemiah (it's on my dining room wall should you remember pics from my blog...).
I need to check out the Rabbit Room since I also love Sally Lloyd-Jones and Andrew Peterson--thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Esther | September 30, 2011 at 02:49 PM
A great synopsis. Thanks for the amazing pictures.
Posted by: Shauna Peterson | September 30, 2011 at 07:27 PM
I found you! So very glad to have met you in TN. Wonderful pictures. Enjoy your beautiful little people :) Julie
Posted by: Julie Silander | October 02, 2011 at 08:43 PM
Really great shots. Thanks!
Posted by: Alyssa Ramsey | October 05, 2011 at 10:21 AM
Heather, do you mind if we use some of your pictures?
Posted by: Pete Peterson | October 05, 2011 at 10:22 AM
Super pics. A wonderful summary of the folks, the art and the food. (Well, the food was a work of art so I guess I'm being redundant).
Posted by: Becky | October 05, 2011 at 12:42 PM
Thanks so much, everyone! I only wish we got more good ones. Next year we'll really get into everyone's faces and take even more photos.
Posted by: Heather | October 05, 2011 at 06:44 PM
Pete and anyone else, feel free to use the Hutchmoot pics. Just give me credit for them, please!
Posted by: Heather | October 08, 2011 at 06:46 AM
this looks like a really cool gathering. dave is intriqued...maybe we'll have to take a trip to tennessee. i told dave about justing gerard because i thought he'd like him and he already new about him- he's always ahead of me. ;) i am jealous of the chef's truck.
Posted by: tammyo | October 10, 2011 at 09:21 AM