I am busy doing sketches now in preparation for the Western Masters Art Show and The Russell Museum Auction next March. These six months will go by pretty quickly as I need to get a lot of work done!  Winter is conducive to spending lots of time in the studio, although I’m hoping we have a long, beautiful fall. We deserve it after last winter and spring!

I just ran across the image for this painting and thought it was timely. This subject is of the Kalispell / Whitefish, MT. area and was a painting I did during a quick finish benefit show for the Hockaday Museum last fall. The western side of the Divide is so pastoral and picturesque, very different from our more rugged East Slope country. “The Golds of Autumn” is an oil, 12″ x 12″.

For the 100 Mile Radius Show, we decided that we would all do a piece about Great Falls, as it was the epicenter of our radius. Most of the pieces were interpretive. Mine of course was pretty literal, and hales back to my scenic artist days and huge motion picture and theme park backdrops. YIKES. To me, Great Falls is about the confluence – a meeting place, and about the river. “Before the Falls” is an oil, 48″ x 36″.

Boy, have I forgotten about my blog. It has been a busy 3 or 4 months! I neglected to post the invitation for our 100 Mile Radius Show at Paris Gibson Square! The show opened in August, and now will hang a few more weeks. As Fran Carlson so aptly put it, “The inspiration for this show lies in the High Plains of central Montana that these artists call home.  Though their styles and media are diverse, they share a strong love for this place.  They all wrestle with the complex responses engendered by a place that can be heart achingly beautiful and tediously difficult all on the same day.  This show explores the variety and commonality of their artistic responses.” If you haven’t seen the show, we’d  love it if you would!

On another note, I attended “The Artists’ Ride” in South Dakota in August. It was absolutely incredible – so many models, animals, wagons – period costume and sets – fantastic for the western artist! More about that later… I hate to say too much, I want to keep it for myself! I do have a whole new cache of research photos, which is everything!

I just received word that this painting won the People’s Choice Award at the Clymer Museum of Art Exhibit and Auction, May 20 & 21. Of course I was thrilled! “She Loves Their Stories” is an oil, 24″ x 24″.

In many cultures, the willful Magpie is seen as a messenger, a harbinger, a being that can travel between the dark and the light, the good and the bad. The wily magpie is also seen as one that stands in the doorway of new realms, bringing word of other events and places. This wise woman is thrilled by a visit from her magpie friends, enjoying the stories they have to tell of their forays into other worlds and realms. They bring good news.

Her dress speaks of a past raid on another tribe and the procurement of new horses for the People. This particular dress does exist and is on display in the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. It is attributed to be Sihasapa Lakota (Blackfoot Sioux) circa 1890.

I’m now getting back into the studio. Lots going on here in the summer, kids home, cows, a remodeling project, and some sadness – several family members with cancer. Please let someone find a cure for that disease.

I did participate in the Montana Land Reliance Show last month, selling several pieces there. It was a lot of fun – and for one of my favorite causes. Tonight is the C.M. Russell Museum Masters in Miniature Show. I had intended to display my pieces here, but can’t find images of them! You may see them on page 49 in the online catalog. The event tonight is from 6 to 9 at the museum, and will be fun as always! Please come, support the museum and buy some art!

Also, I am posting a 12×12 lily pad painting I especially like, Tres Soeurs as it is a little more colorful than some of the tonal ones I’ve been doing. This piece is for the Coeur d’ Alene Miniatures by the Lake Show – now hanging at the Coeur d’ Alene Galleries. The auction itself is September 24th.

2010 is the centennial year of Glacier National Park, which is an absolutely amazing place. If you have never been there, you need to see it at least once in your lifetime. I did this painting of Many Glacier for Helena Montana’s Holter Museum show “Montana Landscape: The Eye of the Beholder”. The show runs from July 1 – through October 17th, 2010. In picking this scene from countless others in the park, my focus was scale. To me, Glaceir Park is about grandeur and all about scale. In that context, we people are so insignificant. I liked this view of Swiftcurrent Ridge, as the Park buildings below point out how massive the ridge is just beyond the lake. “A Break in the Fog” is an oil, 24″ x 32″.

I just noticed that it’s been a month since I made a Blog entry. This title, “In Blows Summer” bespeaks both the painting and my life as summer rolls around! So many projects in so many directions have kept me from thinking about my Blog, among other things! This larger painting is one that I finished for the MPA Show, “Russell’s Haunts” now showing at the C.M. Russell Museum, and is the piece I picked that is representative of the Judith Basin, SE of Great Falls, MT. I thought I might include both the sketch here, “Spring Storm”(9×12) and the final painting (24×30). Sometimes my final painting is quite different from the sketch. That isn’t true this time, although I changed the format some. I do like the fresh, rougher quality of the sketch, which may have had something to do with the time issue as that storm was rolling in! I will never quit being impressed by the drama and incredible power evidenced when our storms descend. Nor will I ever quit loving the big expanse of sky we are privileged to see here in Montana! Those are, of course, the subject in these paintings.

“Spring Storm” 9×12                  “In Blows Summer” 24×30 is below

I guess I’ve been gone from my blog for awhile…  I’ve been working on a few larger pieces, delivering others, and also have been lured out to again experience spring in Montana! It’s easy to find excuses to be working outside now!

I love Glacier Park and all the wild places I’ve been lucky enough to experience over the years. This painting was inspired by a sketch I had done at Lake McDonald near West Glacier, looking out toward Mount Stanton. It’s hard to beat the subject matter! The painting and the original sketch are included in the Montana Painters Alliance show at the C. M. Russell Museum, opening this month. The show is called “Russell’s Haunts” and includes sketches and paintings we did at two of Charlie Russell’s favorite places, the Judith Basin and Glacier Park. “Mountain’s Majesty” is an oil, 24 x 24.

Tomorrow begins Art Week in Great Falls, MT. I will be involved with two of the five different art shows in town. I am showing in room 176 at the Heritage Inn (part of the Ad Club’s Russell Art Show) and also have a piece in “The Russell” – the show to benefit the C.M. Russell Museum. I chose to do the wall sale this year instead of the auction. That sale is this Thursday night, March 18 from 5:00 – 8:00pm. You may view the catalog online.

I’ve shown you this painting before but since this is the big week, I thought I would show it to you again. It’s called “The Season’s Last Lilies” and is an oil, 24″ x 24″. Hope to see you there!

The last few weeks, I’ve been working on some larger paintings, now to submit for the Russell Museum Art Show in the spring. Nothing to show you yet, but I should have one done in a few days.

I’m posting two pictures I took a few weeks back during the autumn Montana Painters Alliance (supposed) paint out in Glacier Park. I pulled into Duck Lake just as the snow clouds were descending. The storm lifted for a few hours the next day, so I did get  some pictures at least, at Many Glacier. It’s so beautiful there, but painting in the snow is something I was not prepared for! This hawk was nice enough to pose for me and was very patient. I believe it was a Swainson’s Hawk by the markings.

MPA is going to have a show at the C.M. Russell Museum next summer with paintings we’ve done, inspired by Charlie Russell’s haunts in the Judith Basin and Glacier Park. That will be fun!