Chalk n Rock Festival

I was able to participate in the Chalk n' Rock festival that was held in Bigfork, MT again this year. SO MUCH FUN again! There were some great musicians that were playing some fun music and I had a spot next to my friend Kayla. The weather was much cooler than last year which was much better, I thought. I wasn't melting away in the heat. There was a little threat of rain, but it never came. THANK HEAVENS!

For those of you that are new, the chalk n' rock festival is a new thing to Bigfork. This was the 2nd year. They block of Electric Ave. (which is the main street in 'downtown' Bigfork) and paint at least 20 8x8 squares in the middle of the road with black chalk paint. Artists young and old, professional or emerging are invited to chalk up a square with an image....be it an original work of theirs or a work by another artist (most likely long since gone from this world). I did another piece of mine this year...and a horse, again.

They give us a fresh box of chalk and set us loose!

I grid out my image (that I printed out on the computer) and then grid out my giant chalk square and begin drawing. It's sooooooo easy with a grid. You are just copying what you see in each square and WHAM BAM! You have a finished drawing perfectly drawn. That's the easiest part. Then you sit on your knees, bum, side or you squat and work work work! I went through 11 pieces of white chalk this year. I like how it turned out. Everyone was hard at work too. Every now and then, we all would get up and walk around to stretch and check out what else was being chalked.

The chalk n' Rock festival is over two days. Which is great because I really needed it this year. Judging took place at 2pm on Sunday and then awards were announced at 5pm. My friend Kayla won a tie between first for her piece of a squid battling a sea monster! So cool!

The neat thing is the promoters also paint up at least 100 1ft squares for kiddos to chalk up. It is so neat to see what they draw and how they do it. My good friend Melinda came down with her family and her little girl drew a beautiful image that I just have to share with you!

Once again, it was another super fun year. I can't wait for next year...I have so many ideas!

More pics from the Chalk Festival

I meant to post these only a few days after the chalk festival, but then you get side tracked by working on your epic halloween costume, hanging out with girlfriends and working on some pieces I've been taking forever on (SORRY John, Algier, Shawna!!! they are coming, I promise!!!) soooooooooooooooooo, here are some more pics from some other pieces that were created on the street of Bigfork!

There was also a spot for kids to join in on the action too!

There was also a guest artist (this guy working on Captain America) and a featured artist (who did the charlie russell piece) They had squares twice as big as ours. It was really neat watching them create!

So many pieces!!! A lot of fun to look at, as well as be a part of! Hopefully, I'll get to do this again. It Rocked!

Drawing on the Street

This Saturday I'll be participating in the Chalk n' Rock Festival, a street art and musical event being held in downtown Bigfork, MT where professional artists from across the nation will be creating works of art with chalk on the street! There will be bands playing while the artists will be working. We each get an 8ftx8ft section on the street and we'll get to compete to create a work of art.

I'm so excited I was invited to do this. I think it will be SO much fun. But.....I've never created anything with chalk on a street before, unless you count drawing smiling suns and flowers and hopscotch for my niece and nephew. This is going to be quite the artistic adventure!!! LOL.

My biggest problem is trying to figure out what I want to do. A Bison, Two horses nuzzling each other, or a bear catching a fish in a raging river. Oh the agonizing decision! haha!

If any of you are in the area, be sure to stop by. The event will be on Saturday from 9am-7pm and again on Sunday from 10am - 5pm. It's gonna be SO much fun! :)

I'll be sure to post pictures from the event next week.

The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival

Gosh, It has been awhile since I've had the time to do a post!

I just got home from my LONG drive across the nation (north to south at least) and what an adventure it turned out to be! I went to the Woodlands (Houston area), Texas for an art festival. The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival. It was SO COOL! My fabulous friend Melissa came with me for most of the trip!

But, before I begin my review, I must first tell you about my drive down. As luck would have it I had another crazy car experience. (remember the exciting adventure from my art festival to Logan, Utah?) Well, I was alerted to a leak in my oil coolant line just before my departure. I was told that if I just filled up those fluids that were leaking almost everytime I gased up, I'd be A-ok. So I went to the Laramie, WY walmart to buy some fluid, after spending the night in the fabulous college town, and as luck would have it they were completely sold out of ONLY the type oil I needed! Melissa & I then spent a good while looking for an auto parts store but had no luck locating it due to a LOT of construction so I pulled into the Laramie Chevy dealership. I bought some oil and they were going to make sure I was putting it in the right spot and when I popped my hood, they immediately knew I needed help. They could smell that my engine had already overheated (from driving around in town for 20 min) and saw some signs that showed my engine needed a little TLC. The service department was able to get me right in and were able to replace my water pump (which had gone bad) and my oil coolant line in a couple of hours! Thank heavens everything worked out the way that it did....I can only imagine the frustration & despair I would've had if my engine overheated and given out in the middle of nowhere on a two laned highway. Yikes! So a HUGE shout out to my angels at Laramie GM Auto Center. You saved the day and the road trip!

It was so neat watching the landscape change through the trip! Here are some photos!

The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival was AWESOME. There were SO many amazing and talented artists. I was fortunate to meet some and make friends! I was next to a great Printmaker, Mel Fleck from Taylorsville, KY. He does these fantastic works with egyptian hieroglyphs. Across from me was Mixed Media Artist Laura Junge from Chicago, IL. Just down from me was oil painter Charlene Marsh from Nashville, IN. The weather mostly cooperated all weekend (a little rain on Sunday). Everyone that helped with the festival was SO nice. Plus, I was able to meet a lot of wonderful people...including Kim Shirley! Yup, I got to meet another Kim Shirley on this planet. How cool is that? Here we are!!!

I really really hope that I get to go back next year. Here are some pictures from my area. There were over 200 booths of amazing artists...I wish I would've taken some pictures of the rest of the event grounds. Oh well! The park area will have to do.

I'm so glad I was able to go to this art festival and to travel through 7 states (ID, UT, WY, CO, OK, TX, NM). It was a great and epic road trip! Next time, I'm going to allow a little more time so I can stop and REALLY visit some nifty sites such as Billy the Kid's Grave, The 4 Corners, Mesa Verde, and other awesome stops along the way!

But as cool as it is to go new places, there really is no place like home!

Fat Tire Bikes and the Start of a New Painting!

I love Saturdays! They always mean adventure....or productivity. Sometimes, both, which was the case today!

Whitefish Legacy Partners, a non profit in Whitefish, joined forces with many local businesses to create the Winter Trails Day...a free family fun day to try out snowshoes, cross country skis, or fat tire bikes. They had demos, mini lessons, fire to keep warm, and hot cocoa! I went with a girlfriend to test out some skis and bikes (I already own a couple pairs of snowshoes).

It was SO much fun! I'm really considering getting a pair of skis...partly to make traveling in Glacier quicker. All the places I want to go are quiet a ways a away and snowshoeing does take some time...So I figure if I get some skis, I can get to my destination quicker and then hop on the snowshoes to hike up to the lakes or explore around off the main road (The Going to the Sun road is closed 11 miles in and can only be traveled by foot or ski). What I REALLY want, though, is a Fat Tire Bike. Those things can go anywhere, OMG they are so cool! It was like mountain biking in the snow! Super awesome. I probably wouldn't take it to trails and such very much, if I had one. But I would most definitely use it as my mode of transportation. It'd be nice to bike year round, instead of driving in the winter!

After I got home from my fun adventure, I began to put paint to paper on my newest piece. I have several others in process or drawn and waiting to be started, but I just couldn't contain my desire to start this piece. It will be the largest watercolor I've ever done. It's almost as large as my kitchen table...which is what I'm painting it on!!! My watercolor pallet & water bowl are sitting on my chair so I'm standing/bending while I paint. This is going to be a very physical experience painting this thing.

I transfered my drawing a couple of days ago and have been attempting to make the piece lay flat (as it came off a roll of paper). When finished, the piece will be 30x44. SO exciting. It's of a fisherman holding the fish he just caught. The image is my uncle. I took the reference photo on a backpacking trip in the Beartooth Mountains several years ago. This was at Phantom Lake. While I LOVE the mountains of Glacier and all the adventures you can have, my heart will always belong to the Beartooth Mountains. I have so many fond memories there. There are so many wonderful areas you can explore!

Ahhhh, I'm getting off topic! Back to the painting. So I made some quick progress. Laid in the first washes for the shirt/vest, hat & water. Then I started doing some detail. I was gonna call it quits for the evening (and took the photos to show you) but decided to go paint a little bit longer. So, I should have more photos to post tomorrow or Monday as I KNOW I'm gonna be working on this badboy any chance I get!

You can see how it is practically as large as my kitchen table. This last photo shows the extra details I started putting in

A Rambling Sort of Post

Whew! It has been awhile since I've been able to do a post. This might be a long one....

So first is my SUPER EXCITING NEWS!

I'm going to do an art fair in TEXAS! Yup, I was accepted to one in The Woodlands and decided to go for it. I'm going to drive 4000 miles (round trip) but I figure if I'm unable to recoup my expenses, it'll make one heck of a road trip! I've never been to Texas and am very excited to go visit.

The show is the Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival. It will be April 12th & 13th, 2014. I'm very excited but nervous too. The drive will be close to 30 hours one way (I google mapped, it's 2001 miles from Whitefish). So! If ANY of you fabulous followers, art lovers, horse lovers, and friends are in the area, please stop by and say hi! So, Those of you from that area in Texas, what is the weather like? Windy? Cold? Warm? Hot already? Do you recommend any cool places to visit? Eat at? AGH! I'm so excited

I've been working on a commission and I finished it. But I'm not happy with the result. I go back to it every few days and just sit in front of it and stare. It doesn't have that it-thing and I'm not happy with it. So, I've started over and in a different direction to too. I just hope my patient client isn't getting annoyed with me! As always, I'm not just working on one piece. (I often have several pieces in different stages going at the same time). I was able to finish one over the long weekend...partly because my epic plans of snowshoeing/hiking/running were foiled by an unexpected eye infection. Apparently my eyes don't like old contacts >:( So, I hid in my dark den of an apartment with all the shades/curtains drawn and kept the lights on low and finished this piece. I'm thinking I'm going to go back and punch it up a bit with a few more darks but am SO happy with how it turned out. This is one of those pieces that I based 98% off the photograph. It was just so awesome I couldn't think of much to change. *photo taken by nature photographer, rulon gardner*

Caught My Attention, 30x22

The last little bit is I participated in the Holiday Food & Gift Festival in Billings, MT a couple of weeks ago. I was able to see some friends and make some new ones! The best part is I was able to spend some time with my fabulous parents and my Grandma. I haven't seen them for several months so it was a great way to spend the weekend with them. Lots of fun...Although, my car decided it needed a new battery. 2013 was not my year with traveling to art festivals. Lets hope I won't have any issues with driving to the Texas show next year!!!!

River City Roots Festival

I finished up the summer outdoor art fair season in downtown Missoula at the River City Roots Festival, a two day bluegrass/folk/rock music festival with a small outdoor juried art show, food booths, kids events, and a 4 mile fun run. This was the 5th year I've done this event. Bands play throughout the day Saturday and the main headliner plays Saturday night. More bands play during the day on Sunday.

The weather was actually great! It wasn't as hot as it has been in years past (although 4 years ago was the exception...it was FREEZING). I was worried about smoke (from a raging forest fire burning in Lolo) but it never really came. Saturday evening, just before it was time to close, I noticed there was ash on my tent and table, but the smoke wasn't thick and it didn't smell like a campfire.

I had some great neighbors, got to see a lot of friends and familiar faces, and was able to listen to some great bands. My favorite was Lil' Smokies. I could've listened to them all day.

Unfortunatly I closed up early on Sunday. The show went from 11am - 7pm. I started packing up around 5:30 because I noticed some meanacing clouds coming closer and getting darker. I had just put all of my pictures in the parking garage (where my jeep was) when the downpour started. Two friends just happened to show up and helped me break down. A good Samaritan also helped out! We were all drenched by the time we had my tent and display units/hardware packed down and put in the garage. I did need a shower that day LOL!

Here are some pictures from the festival, when the skies were nice and blue

Adults & Kiddos could have fun at the Clay Studio live art booth. It was fun watching people of all ages play with clay on a wheel!

Lots of people heading down to the main stage area where they could listen to the bands play...the band playing at this time was Dead Winter Carpenters. They were pretty good too.

Huckleberry Days

This past weekend was Huckleberry Days. This is one of my favorite art festivals because it is in my hometown so I get to walk to the festival each day (except for the last day when I load up). LOVE IT!

The weather was great...infact, perfect. It wasn't as hot as it has been like the last few years. I was able to meet up with some great friends (like Linda & Ken who make the coolest Teepees & more for kiddos, Buzzy Gamble an oil painter, John & Kim of Rosworks, Johnathan of the Copper Spinner, Jewelry by Linda of Moon Cradle, or jewelry by Deborah of Designs by Deborah). I love getting to see all my artist friends.

And I got to meet some wonderful people too. I always have such fun conversations with the people I meet that come to my booth. I love it!

Here are some pictures of the art festival. Enjoy!!!

I love those hammocks. Someday I'm going to get one!!!

My booth!

Bigfork Festival of the Arts

I know I'm more than a week behind posting, but it has been a crazy week!

The first of the most recent two art fairs was the Bigfork Festival of the Arts in downtown Bigfork, MT. This show is fun and feels really big. There are more than 150 artist stretched through the main two streets of downtown Bigfork. I did the art fair by myself this time and never had a chance to walk the entire festival to see all the booths. I wish I had that opportunity, but it was probably for the best. I always find WAY to many things to buy (for myself or others) and can get myself in trouble. I'm addicted to original works of art, what can I say!

This year I was along Grand Ave, or near the beginning of the fair. I had a north facing tent (south side of the street) which meant I was in shade most of the day and thank heavens, it was w a r m! This art fair is unique in that you can't leave your tent up the whole time. You have to take down each night, which makes for a long day and a lot of work. I slept like a rock at the end of each night.

I had some great neighbors (I'm so lucky that I keep getting awesome neighbors) and a lot of fun meeting people.

Enjoy the pictures!

I had to show off one of my pieces framed in the new frames I've been getting from pictureframes.com. They have been a fabulous company to work with and really give me more options since my dad isn't so close to me any more. He makes such fabulous frames but I don't have the access to his talent that I once did so pictureframes.com has been my go to frame source! I love them. I framed this piece just days before and then ended up selling it at the Bigfork Art Festival! :D

Hockaday Museum, Arts in the Park

Here are some pictures from the Arts in the Park put on by the Hockaday Museum of Art in Kalispell. It was a good show. I had a nice shady spot that stayed shady ALL day long! Oh yeah! It was REALLY hot in the afternoons. I had a spot on the street a couple of years ago. I vowed never again. It was miserable over there. So this year I opted for the park. It was soooooooo nice and cool compared to areas not in the shade.

I was able to see some vendor friends and got to make new ones. Plus, the biggest exciting thing is I met a couple, Steven & Karen Boyd, who put on the Art Show at Teton Village...an invitational only art show in Jackson Hole. AGH!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D I can't wait for next year just for this show. I'm still on the wait list for the Jackson art fair in Miller Park....still. Oh well. Now that I have this invite I'll finally get to be where I've been trying and trying for!

Enjoy the pictures!