Galen “Mac” McAllister was born in Wisconsin and grew up in Bozeman, Montana, where he was lucky enough to receive a solid foundation in the arts through what was then a very strong program at Bozeman Senior High School.  Over the next several years, he lived and worked in Florida, Maryland and Michigan as well as Montana. Among other jobs, ‘Mac’ worked as a logger, a pastry cook, a log home ‘wood butcher’, guitar manufacturing supervisor, and served in both the Navy and Army, active and reserve, abroad and at home, in various positions until retirement. He returned to Montana after his hitch in the Navy, and his military career culminated in over a decade in active duty, as the State Partnership Program Director (military international affairs) with the Montana Army National Guard. Throughout, his passion for creating never stopped.  After his final exit from service, ‘Mac’ started his second retirement by ‘re-booting’ his art career through classes at Helena College. Living so much of his life in the landscapes of Yellowstone and Southwestern Montana gave him a strong sense of place, which is reflected in his art.  He currently lives and works in Helena, Montana, where he focuses on three genres which have occupied much of his efforts between the “interregnums” of other careers.  Those are:  landscapes; imagined scenes which are surrealistic in content yet representational in form; and unique fantasy art emphasizing “fat happy dragons”.  He has been featured in solo exhibitions as well as art galleries in Maryland, Michigan, and Montana.