“I've come to realize something that … I'd begun to doubt: There are good people in the world. Good people, kind people. …They all could have chosen to be cold, cruel, indifferent. That would have been easy. Brutality, I think, comes naturally to human beings. But they chose to be good, even if what they did could be questioned within the strict confines of the law.” CJ Box, Three Weeks To Say Goodbye

Joe Pickett is a fictional Wyoming game warden from the best selling mind of novelist CJ Box. The TV series, brought to Alberta by Spectrum, Charter, and Paramount, is a taut and twisting tale of a good man forever getting his ethical nose into the wrong corrupt places throughout the mysterious small town of Saddlestring, WY. I was lucky to collaborate with the show running Dowdle Brothers (John & Drew) to build this new visual universe, right from the ground up — factoring in every beam of sunlight, weasel hole, and gun shot we needed. Standing knee-deep in February snow, we faithfully plotted out the property to best settle into the land, nearby creek bed, and showcase its humble unadorned naturalism — as much an idea from the mind of Marybeth as an actual location. The Pickett property was the cornerstone to the series, their fortress from the wilderness, and source of Joe’s pride, modest dreams, and family’s fresh unstable roots. Our amazing team of designers and scenic craftsfolk battled the wintery elements, and always time/schedule, to unveil a sleepy verdant property to stage the season’s narrative needs and quiet beauty. Matching location to stage, and praying the readership would imagine the same house my brain did— it was another wondrous and terrifying “movie magic” moment of storytelling and dogged interpretation. Sharing it with “Chuck” (CJ Box), and having him sit in Joe’s home office desk with a beaming smile, was a moment of great design pride.