New town sign for Plains

As many locals may have noticed, the old sign that stood at the western entrance of Plains has been revitalized.

The local artist responsible for the change had an interesting story to tell.

The town of Plains, as with much of Sanders County, has a way of pulling people from all over the United States, and even the world, into its community. Many times, if one were to take a look at any one individual, were they not local, the story of who they are and where they come from would amaze.

One such individual is Steve Eberhardt, the man who changed the Plains town sign. Originally from Lubbock, Texas, he has traveled substantially throughout his life. He went to the University of Evansville, Indiana and Indiana University, as well as the British art institute, in England, to further his education in art. Though, since he was young, he has always considered himself a professional. He sold his first piece at the age of 13 and has since found himself being called around the country for his skill, especially in airbrush painting. He says that he sold over $10,000 worth of art by the time he was a freshman.

Much of the work he has done has been in California, where he worked for a time in Hollywood painting backdrops in movies like the Riddick series, Batman, Indiana Jones and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. This is just to name a few. He has also designed art and worked for several restaurant chains in both California and Washington state.

Eberhardt has designed and painted T-shirts, helmets, cars and so much more, and has been doing so professionally for about 30 years. Another of his artistic passions is doing portraits and caricatures. In fact, his first sale, the one he made when he was 13, was a portrait. A lot of his caricatures he has donated. Steve does them for graduation presents, retirement parties and often just for fun, like one recently for the Wildhorse Bar.

One of the aspects of his work, where airbrush is concerned, that makes him so unique is derived from a nickname he has earned and is quite proud of: “The Ghost.”

He has been granted this title because of the nature of how he does airbrush art, especially murals. When asked to work on a project he plans to do it where he will not affect business hours, particularly for restaurants.

“We only take on what we can accomplish in one night,” Eberhardt said. And as per order he and his crew will effectively sneak in when everyone is at home and will finish the work over the course of a single night, so when his customers return the next morning, they will come in to find the project finished. This means, since very few people will have seen him by the end of the job, he is effectively a ghost.

As time has progressed upon the sign that sat at the western entrance to Plains, the town has been needing a remodel and approached Eberhardt. He designed the new sign and came out to change it in a similar fashion to what he is famous for, and the new sign seemed to appear “overnight.”

The original was created from 1x5s and was unsalvageable, so Eberhardt designed the new one to be made much sturdier and of 2x4s. He also created the design in lieu of the coming winter, which will bring drab colors and lots of white and grey. His color palette was planned to be bright and energetic so that the sign would not escape the eye, even in the light of summer.

Eberhardt explained that the main purpose of this was to tell the story of the town and to bring visitors into a bright and friendly community, all of which should be reflected in their sign. He also came in under budget, and so created several extra parts to replace any that may wear over time. This way the new sign should last many more years.

He is also working with the county to put in another Plains sign out at the corner of Montana 135 and 200, along with possibly improving the sign at the other entrance to town, where 28 meets 200. Eberhardt is also working with Paradise to make them a new sign, and Steve’s goal is to do all this by the year 2020.

Eberhardt came to Montana with his wife, who works as Chief Nursing Officer at the Clark Fork Valley Hospital. It was in fact her idea to move out to Montana in the first place, and he jumped at the chance.

Now, he says, when his friends beg him to move back, he explains cheerfully that he never intends to. He still travels out to California on some occasions for work and play. He still does caricatures for the Retirees of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office and helps with any work to the restaurant chain Chuy’s, for whom he has been the lead artist for several years. Currently he runs a workshop near Plains and Paradise.