ARTS COUNCIL OF BIG SKY
The Arts Council of Big Sky is offering a painting class led by renowned artist Laurie Stevens from Oct. 28-30 at the Creighton Block Tower Gallery in Big Sky Town Center.
Entitled “Back to basics: considerations for every painter,” the class is open to all beginning and intermediate adult painters. Stevens will provide demonstrations and verbal instruction that focus on the fundamentals every painter needs to know to execute a successful painting, including composition, value, harmony, color intensity, temperature and awareness of form.
Participants will work from still life setups and their own landscape photos. Stevens will talk about how to edit and exaggerate the subject matter in a way that best tells the story of the painting. The class will produce “Notan” sketches, which focus on three values of an image (dark, light and halftone), before progressing to a more complicated color palette.
Originally from Billings, Stevens began her career as an artist in Los Angeles. She spent 12 years working for the entertainment industry as a scenic artist and muralist for television, theme park, theater and movie productions. She also lent her talents to the Walt Disney Imagineering team, working on Disney theme park projects worldwide.
In the 1980s 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. Stevens has been appearing at the Arts Council of Big Sky’s annual Auction for the Arts fundraiser and is represented locally by Creighton Block Gallery. She has also recently been invited to become a Signature Member of American Woman Artists.
Stevens’ work reflects the small daily wonders of the land she calls home: the first crocus of spring, the resilient beauty of the plains, and the hope and possibility inherent to the Western landscape. She is also interested in regional history, particularly the interactions of Native Americans and white settlers. Many of her paintings are an exploration of this dynamic and a meditation on the “taming of the West.”
For details and registration information, call the Arts Council of Big Sky at (406) 995-2742.
