Lousie Barker - Fiber Art and Jewelry - The Purple Pomegranate

The Purple Pomegranate, a fine craft specialty store, is featuring work by Kalispell artist, Louise Barker during the month of August. Louise’s perspective on “art to wear” incorporates unusual techniques that are organic and make a statement. We express ourselves by what we wear.  This statement has always been at the core of Louise’s art.  Her involvement with fiber has evolved over the past 30 years, working in many facets of surface design.  Her latest direction involves using metal to create imprints on fabric.  “I love seeing the unexpected results that happen when you cannot have complete control over a substance or process”, she states.  Louise’s nation-wide customer base enjoys luxurious wearables that are influenced by the Montana landscape and are timeless in design.    

Louise has always been drawn to the creative process. "Growing up on a small mid-western farm taught me resourcefulness. My father was fearless in using material immediately at hand to repair, upgrade and beautify his life. His creative problem solving skills showed me to rethink the materials around me in a new way. My parents love and respect for the land have given me the precious gift of not taking my surroundings for granted. Montana spoke to me when I was only 19. I never tire of the way the alpenglow briefly casts its spectacular robe of pinks and purples across the mountain tops. When I create, I try to allow my materials to speak for themselves. My sense of design is tactile and organic. My goal is to marry a balance of sophistication with a sense of nature."

Meet Louise during Whitefish Gallery Night, Thursday, August 2, 2012 from 6-9 PM. Louise's work will be displayed during the opening and throughout the month of August.

  

Stephanie Barrett-Pointer & Mimi Werner: Flowers, Birds & Buddha

 "I lose myself in time spent at the easel.  Sometimes I am thinking/meditating spiritually and I don't even know it.  The intricacies of flowers are a mystical wonder.  Most of the flowers I paint are from my garden.  Their beauty is so fleeting, I wait patiently or impatiently all year for the lilacs and peonies.  Anxiously I poke around under the dead leaves of last year looking for the first signs of spring snowdrops, muscari, crocus, mini jonquils.  It's heaven to gather a big enough bundle to take to the house.  Within the settings of the paintings are placed personal objects: a blue platter my mom brought me from Portugal, a shell from Zihuatenejo, Mexico, grandmother's burgandy crystal goblet, a glowing candle, a fleeting butterfly, a jar of Tiger Balm.  Flowers don't last long and luckily I can us the tools of camera and sketches for reference,

The Flora paintings began during a "Lucky Thirteen" group mail art project.  One of the subjects for the group was Botanicals.  That was so enjoyable I decided to make more and expand them into the encaustic realm.  They are lovely, lyrical little pieces and I play to do more."

Stephanie Barrett-Pointer

Join us for a colorful exhibit of acrylics & encaustics by Stephanie Barrett-Pointer and ceramics by Mimi Werner.  Thursday, August 2nd, 6-9PM during Whitefish Gallery Nights.  Fine art, live music by cellist, Lee Zimmerman and light refreshments.  For more information, call 406-863-ARTS.

 

STUMPTOWN ART STUDIO - August 2 features Charity Flowers

Stumptown Art Studio is pleased to feature the work of artist Charity Flowers with an opening reception on Thursday, August 2 from 6-9 p.m.  The exhibit, Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe is on display at the community art center through September 3.

Charity Flowers began her studies in art at Flathead Valley Community College where she explored a variety of art forms before deciding to focus on sculpture.  She received her bachelor of fine arts from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.



Time to Go, 36"x36" mixed media painting by Charity Flowers



Flowers incorporates different media in her painting and sculptural work, including welding, ceramics and collage.  She explains that the use of many techniques gives her the freedom to use the materials needed to express an idea. 

The mother of two children says her current body of work, "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe is an expression of the adventure of childhood play and how it evolves as people grow into adulthood, and playtime is lost indefinitely."

"The adventures we have as children help to construct our identities and our awareness of our place in the world around us," she says.   The artist believes the unstructured playtime she experienced in her own childhood helped her develop creativity and freethinking skills.

Stumptown Art Studio was founded in 1995 as a non-profit community art center where people of all ages would be able to "...express their inherent creative nature and learn about the world of art..."   Classes and workshops, outreach and field trips, exhibits, an artists' co-operative, community events, retail art supplies and paint-you-own pottery, glass fusing and mosaic-making are all part of the many opportunities through the art studio.  Currently, a community mosaic mural, Windows On Whitefish or WOW, is the latest project that has been launched by Stumptown Art Studio.

Open hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Sundays from noon until 5 p.m.

STEPHEN ISLEY JEWELRY PRESENTS Sculptor Kelsey Schmid-Sommer

at the August 2^nd First Thursdays Gallery Nights from 6:00PM until 9:00PM in Whitefish.   Kelsey lives and sculpts in Whitefish, Montana.  After graduating with a BFA in sculpture from the University of Montana in 1999, Kelsey continues to sculpt wood and focus primarily on bird imagery.  Her passion for art comes from wanting to recreate the jovial nature she sees in animals.  She has a full working wood shop and sculpts with recycled or found wood from the surrounding Flathead Valley.  Recently, Kelsey has been working with a local bronze foundry and is excited to show the birds in a different medium.  The bronze and wood sculptures can be found in Stephen Isley Jewelry Gallery in Whitefish through August.   

Going To The Sun Presents Montana Artist Frank Hagel

Going To The Sun Gallery is honored to present Montana Artist Frank Hagel for Gallery nights on July 5, 2012.

GROUT-A-THON - July 5 at Stumptown Art Studio

Join artistic director Deb Stika at Stumptown Art Studio for a hands-on community "Grout-a-Thon" to get the first WOW (Windows On Whitefish) mosaic mural window done.  Following the completion of the grouting of the first of the four windows, it will be installed around the corner of Stumptown Art Studio on the south side of the Latitude 48 building where the empty frame awaits the artwork.

In January of 2012 Stumptown Art Studio launched the WOW public art project with community classes and mosaic sessions.  With the participation of the public, the first mosaic window, which

depicts the spring season is nearly finished.  The July 5 gallery night evening will introduce the rest of the community and its visitors to the mural project.  Deb Stika and her assistants will guide public participation in the grouting process.  Aprons and disposable gloves will be provided for this hands-on activity.

With these murals, Stumptown Art Studio hopes to inspire every person, business and visitor to the area by creating a lasting work of public art.  Since 1995 the non-profit community art center has been enriching lives by providing windows of opportunity and creative experiences for people of all ages.  Sponsorships and donations for the WOW project are currently being accepted and the next step for the art center is to create a permanent endowment.

For more details and information on the many art activities at Stumptown Art Studio please stop by 145 Central Avenue in Whitefish, Montana, call (406)862-5929 or check the web site at http://www.stumptownartstudio.org/

Hours are Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays, noon to 5 p.m.  Come in anytime during those hours to paint-your-own pottery, mosaic-making and glass fusing.  A variety of classes and workshops for all ages are held on an ongoing basis.
(Pictured are three panels of the 12 panels that in entirety, create the artwork for the spring window.  Notice the BNSF train at the top image).

Peter Moore-Documented Presence at The Walking Man Frame Shop & Gallery

Please join us Thursday, July 5th, 6-9PM for an exhibit of "Documented Presence" by Polebridge artist and U.S. Presidential candidate, Peter Moore.  Fine art, live music by Suzanne Warmanen and Jay DiPaola, "political discourse" and light refreshments.  For more information please call 406-863-ARTS.  And find us on Facebook!!

"The genesis of this show is in the fact that the majority of my neighbors in the North Fork do not have phones.  What we've always done is hang a notepad & pencil next to our doors, so when someone stops by they can leave a message.  Like..."I stoppt by-where are you?"  Six years ago I added a new dimension by mounting a throw-a-way 35mm camera above my notepad with a sign that asks..."Please document your presence."  Over the years I have gathered hundreds of 'self-portrait' photos on or near my front porch.  These are a small selection of those documents.  The dates in the titles are the year the photo was taken.  All paintings done in 2011-12.  Hope you enjoy!  Portrait commissions encouraged!!"
Peter Moore