Jason Hackwith, 2010
Thank you for your interest! I've been designing since 1994 and began developing websites in 1996. Firewind Productions was relaunched in 2005 as a culmination of my central philosophy of design and web development.
I was born in the beautiful city of Coeur d'Alene and grew up surrounded by all things artistic. Art in all its variations has always grabbed my interest, from drawing and painting to sculpture and architecture. I took every art class they let me take through grade schools, middle school & high school. When they weren't offered, I took extracurricular classes.
Commercial design, in particular, was interesting to me and with the help of a fantastic art teacher and program at my high school I got a solid grounding in professional design concepts like kerning, balance, color, tone, and form. With help from my art teacher, I took on my first design projects for local businesses and organizations.
In addition to my passion for the visual arts, I grew up in a musical family—just about everybody on my dad's side plays multiple instruments. We still get together every once in awhile to play bluegrass, old-style music, and folk. I started playing the guitar at the age of eight, the piano somewhere around that time, and picked up the mandolin and banjo. In fifth grade, I started playing violin (and fiddle music with my family), and continued in both classical and contemporary instruction throughout middle school and high school. I had the pleasure of serving as concertmaster for the CHS senior orchestra, as well as singing in the select choirs and jazz choirs, playing piano/keyboards in the stage band and pep band, and taking private violin instruction. I also began writing music in high school. Over the years, I've picked up a number of other instruments and am always learning something new.
When I graduated from CHS in 1996 and headed off to Northwest Christian University, I was already doing some design work on a freelance basis as an offshoot of the commercial design and graphic design classes I was taking. I decided to major in music ministry, essentially a music performance degree with a Christian emphasis. My primary instrument was voice, and I decided to study guitar more seriously as my secondary instrument.
In 1998, I was honored to be one of the singer/songwriters featured on the College Life Compilation, a CD produced by Paul Wright along with other artists from Northwest Christian University, including Ryan Stevenson, Shawn McDonald & Keegan Smith. I also toured with several groups including Pilgrimage, a group of eight that played just about every weekend during 1998-1999, including a 12 concert tour through California. I graduated in 2000 and came to live in Lewiston to be closer to family.
In my spare time, I love playing with Wanigan (a progressive bluegrass/folk band), writing & recording music, writing poetry, drawing and illustrating. Wanigan released Brand New Day in 2008 and we're currently working on our next album while playing gigs in the Lewis-Clark Valley and around the Northwest.
My wonderful wife Candi & I have two cats: Marari, an orange tabby male who thinks he's a dog; and Mysti, a female long-hair also known as GhostCat for her ability to disappear (even with a bell on her collar). We also have a cheeky dwarf hamster named Reepicheep.
Firewind Productions
http://firewindproductions.com/staticpages/index.php/jason