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Cowgirl

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Laurie — No Comments ↓

I had taken last night’s post down on second thought, but I will repost this painting, as a friend who was up late also last night saw it and asked about it. This is not the way I want to paint – very tight and within the box. (My Scenic Artist roots tugging at me again …) but the thought process is interesting so here goes.

I love painting people but have trouble finding people to paint (maybe because I never leave the ranch!), so I got excited about painting “portraits” of some of our stuff! We have a lot of old toys and memorabilia and I thought this was a great solution to that dilemma.

This has been an eye opener for me though as I’m seeing it’s not going to be so easy. All these toys look like toys, look like cartoons, so to do a serious painting of them is proving to be a lot more difficult than I had anticipated. This is very interesting.

So far, I’ve done three paintings of toys. One is going in the bonfire pit. I’m not sure about the second one yet. This is the one I like the best, just an 8×10 of this cowgirl toy, but it’s much tighter than I want to paint anymore. It just seemed necessary to do that so it wouldn’t look so much like – “a toy”…? Hummm.

When I have more time I’m going to come back to this idea. I had built a still-life box where I can control the lighting, but I think I need to take “my toys” outdoors and put them in settings with natural light and a real environment. I’ll let you know how this progresses.

Cowgirl-8x10-for-web

Posted in Figurative, Western

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Laurie Stevens

Current or Recent Events & Shows

National Oil & Acrylic Painters Society “Best of America Small Painting National Exhibition” at the Kirkland Gallery, Nashville, TN., April 30 – May26, 2018

Out West Art Show & Sale, March 14-17, 2018 at the Heritage Inn, Great Falls, Mt. I’m in Room 176!

Portrait Society of America 6×9:Limited Size, Unlimited Talent Mystery Art Sale, April 20, 2018 at the Art of the Portrait Conference in Washington, DC.

National Oil & Acrylic Painters Society Holiday Small Works Show, Nov. 13 – Dec. 30, 2017

Under a Vast Sky, the 2017 AWA Annual Master and Signature Members Show & National Juried Exhibition, at the Tucson Desert Art Museum, Oct 13 – Dec. 3, 2017

“Dissent” Show at Sparrow Gallery, Sacramento, CA. July 1 – August, 2017

“Gallery Night” at Frame of Reference Fine Art in Whitefish, MT.,July 6, 2017

Iron Horse Summer Art Social, Whitefish, MT. June 25, 2017

“First Strike Auction” March 17, 2017 C.M. Russell Museum https://cmrussell.org/the-russell-event/

2016 – Portrait Society of American Members Only Competition Winner – Landscape Division https://portraitsociety.org/

“Back to Basics” Painting Workshop in Big Sky, MT. – October 28-30, 2016

“2016 Annual AWA Member Show & National Juried Exhibition” – Sept. 23 to Nov. 14, 2016 https://americanwomenartists.org/news//

“Summer Art Social” at Iron Horse, Whitefish, MT. – June 25, 2016 www.whitefishcommunityfoundation.org/summer-art-social/

“Montana Painters Alliance Show” at the Hockaday Museum of Art in Kalispell, MT. June 30, 2016 – August 31, 2016. http://www.hockadaymuseum.org/

I’m teaching a workshop called “Back to Basics: Considerations for Every Painter” at the C. M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, MT., April 29 – May 1, 2016 https://www.cmrussell.org/content/back-basics-considerations-every-painter-laurie-stevens/

“Auction for the Arts” at Lone Mountain Ranch in Big Sky, MT. March 24, 2016 http://www.bigskyarts.org/

“Out West Art Show & Sale” at the Heritage Inn, Great Falls, MT. March 16-19, 2016 http://outwestartshow.com/

Guest Artist at Altamira Fine Art, Scottsdale, AZ., 2015 http://www.altamiraart.com

“Traveling the West Art Show & Sale” at Southwest Gallery, Dallas, TX. – October 23-24, 2015 http://www.travelingthewestshow.com

“Boots Required!” at Bella Muse Gallery, Ogden, UT. – July 3 – August 31, 2015 http://www.bellamusegallery.com

“Summer Art Social” at Iron Horse, Whitefish, MT. – June 30, 2015 www.whitefishcommunityfoundation.org/summer-art-social/

The Dana Gallery “Icons of the West” Show, May 15 – June 30,, 2015 http://www.danagallery.com

The Russell Live Auction, Mansfield Convention Center, Great Falls, MT., Saturday, Mar. 21, 2015 http://www.cmrussell.org/the-russell

Booth Western Art Museum “For the Love of Art Gala & Art Auction” – February 21, 2015 www.boothmuseum.org

Altamira Fine Art “Art 2 Art Show”, Jackson, WY. – mid December, 2014 – January 1, 2015 www.altamiraart.com

Tom Gilleon & Laurie Stevens – 2 person show hosted by Altamira Gallery of Jackson, WY. and Creighton Block Gallery of Big Sky, MT., July1 – 18, 2014 http://www.creightonblockgallery.com

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum “Small Works, Great Wonders” Show, Oklahoma City, OK. – Nov. 15 – Dec. 1, 2013 http://nationalcowboymuseum.org/events/swgw/default.aspx

Recent Accolades

2016 - Portrait Society of America "Members Only Show" - I placed in the Landscape Division with my painting "Milk and Honey"! See the images on the slider.

2014 - Spring, 2015 - Juried into the Spring American Women Artists Online Juried Show. http://www.americanwomenartists.org/news/html/t_oli_2014_fall.html

2014 - Juried into the Fall NOAPS International Online Showcase. http://www.noaps.org/html/t_oli_2014_fall.html

2014 - Juried into the American Women Artists National Competition & Exhibition, Orleans, MA.www.americanwomenartists.org

2014 - Chosen to be an "Art in Action" Artist for the Russell Auction event at Meadowlark Country Club, Great Falls, MT., Mar. 21www.cmrussell.org/the-russell

2013 - Juried into the American Women Artists National Competition & Exhibition, Fredericksburg, TXwww.americanwomenartists.org

2012 - A piece of mine, "Motel Galata" was selected to be part of the permanent Modern West Collection at the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, GA! www.boothmuseum.org/

2012 - Top 100 Paint the Parks National Competition (2 pieces) www.paintamerica.org

2011 People's Choice Award at the Clymer Museum of Art Exhibit & Auction www.clymermuseum.com

2008 C.M. Russell Museum CEO Award - given to one Russell Auction participant www.cmrussell.org

2008 - 2010 Paint America Top 100 www.paintamerica.org

About Me

Stevens’ work reflects the small daily wonders of the land she calls home: the first crocus of spring, the resilient beauty of the plains, or that special sense of hope and possibility that is only found in the West. Stevens is also interested in regional history, particularly the interactions of Native Americans and white settlers during the Reservation Period. Many of her paintings are an exploration of this dynamic and a meditation on the “taming of the West.” From Billings, MT, Laurie began her career as an artist in Los Angeles where she spent 12 years working for the entertainment industry as a scenic artist and muralist for television, theme park, theater and movie productions. She spent time as a member of the Walt Disney Imagineering team, lending her talents to many Disney theme park projects worldwide. She also did some set design, illustration, and matte paintings for several animated childrens’ movies. In the 1980’s Stevens returned to her native Montana, first to the mountains near the Scapegoat Wilderness and then to the ranch near Great Falls where she currently lives and works.

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