By Emily Stifler
The Montana Painters Alliance summer
art show will bring work from
professional plein air landscape painters
to Big Sky, Aug. 4 – 25. Hosted by the
Creighton Block Gallery in the Town
Center, the event will feature 25 Montana
artists.
Each will show two pieces, some of
which were painted on location, and
all will be images from the “greater Big
Sky area, and the Greater Yellowstone
ecosystem,” said Colin Mathews, gallery
owner.
This spring, Creighton Block hosted
a Montana Painters Alliance “paintout,”
something the MPA does twice
annually.
“The concept is that members gather in
a location for three days to paint, to look
at one another’s sketch books, to share
ideas, companionship and camaraderie,”
Mathews said. “It’s an idea that has
a 100 year history in serious art clubs in
the U.S.”
The paint-out was in May during a spell
of poor weather, but the artists painted
outside – en plein air – anyway.
“I’ve done some of my better paintings
in poor weather under adverse
conditions,” said MPA President Diana
Brady.
The artists enjoy these events because
they can learn from each other, Brady
said. “We’re a diverse group. Our “interests,
styles, and painting mediums
all vary. It’s a fun group to get together.”
“These artists spend so much time
alone in studios painting that they
rarely have a chance to visit with their
fellow artists,” Mathews added.
Much of the work at this show will be
from the spring’s paint-out.
Approximately
10 of the artists will be at an
Aug. 4 reception from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
The MPA was formed to assist and cooperate in fostering, stimulating, and encouraging
the growing interest in plein air painting, landscape painting, and studio
painting by Montana’s wealth of professional artists. The MPA offers in-state and
out-of-state visitors the opportunity to observe Montana’s finest artists at work.
