Uncategorized
Featured Artist: Tina DeWeese
Published
13 years agoon
Growing up in a family of artists in Bozeman and in Cottonwood Canyon gave Tina DeWeese a love for simplicity, horses and creative expression. While De-
Weese is well known for her wire horses, she also paints,
does line drawing, collage, and bronze sculpture. Her
work is in her home gallery in Bozeman, in the Gallatin
River Gallery in Big Sky, and in Billings, Big Fork,
Butte and Helena. At art fairs like Sweet Pea, she sells
the wire sculptures, as well as her line of T-shirts.
My parents met at Ohio State and got caught up in
the wave of abstract expressionism. They moved to
Montana in ’49. My dad taught at MSU for 27 years.
My folks were painters and printmakers and were a
major influence in the contemporary art world here
in Montana.
As a kid I grew up with art. That’s what our house
was about. We drew a lot, and were involved with
theater and dance, and played music. My real love
was horses.
We got our first horse, Molly, when I was five. She
was a really nice horse, kid friendly. We used to ride
her triple. My sister Gretchen and I were the horse
lovers. My brothers were the skiers. It just happens
like that. You have choices. I’ve had horses all my
life since.
My younger brother, Josh, is an artist. He got hooked
on clay pretty young and took the bull by the horns
and ran with it. Now he’s teaching Ceramics at MSU,
where my dad taught.
In 1983, I got a degree in Arts and Humanities from
Evergreen in Washington. I did independent work in
Depth Psychology and was in a program called Life
Studies that was designed to help people orient to
their life work. At that time for me, it was about care
giving. I interviewed people in nursing homes, did restorative
care and also did home care. In the two years
I was in that program, I returned to my roots as artist.
I stayed in Washington for 10 years. In 1989, I moved
back to Montana. A big part of me longed to get back
to nature and my horses. I’m glad I did.
Working with a line, specifically with the figure of
the horse, is a meditation on a form. It becomes a
foundation to infinite variation of that form. The line
is such a direct process, very basic and simple.
I do wire sculpture freehand, using needle nose pliers
for the tight knots and bends. It’s all one piece of wire.
I have the figures mapped out in my head.
The horse is such a vital form. It has infinite variation.
Usually, when I make them, I finish one with
the motivation to make another. My horse, Blue, has
been my primary model. Most of my horses have that
long, lean thoroughbred feel to them.
My mom passed away in 2007, and she left behind a
lot of her work and of her collection of other people’s
work. We did a major celebration of her life and her
work the spring after she died. I’m the one of five
kids that was living at the family home, so it was my
job to clear out her studio. Now, I’m in a transition
back to my own studio, my own work.
I like working with different materials. I’m known
for my wire, but it’s not all I do. You can get locked
into an identity that’s not necessarily complete. Once Tom came out here with his wax, I just
couldn’t keep my hands out of it so I started doing
bronzes.
I’ve worked with batik, and I like to paint, do line
drawings and collage and take photographs. To me,
it’s all the same process with different materials. I
value that diversity of materials and consider flexibility
critical to my creativity. Innovation is the key, and
that requires a great deal of exploration.
As a performing artist, you have to be there, be
physically present as a personality. As a visual artist,
you can do the work and step aside. I prefer to let my
work speak for itself. I’m uncomfortable being in
the limelight.
We bought Blue as a retired racehorse when he was
four. His feet were really a problem. With the help
of a barefoot trimmer, I healed his feet. Now he’s 18
and sound most of the time, though it takes constant
vigilance. I’ve never ridden a finer horse. He
can go anywhere, and he never runs out of energy.
He’s goofy sometimes, when his adrenaline gets going
and he’s wound up.
Down to the Wire – bent wire sculpture
deweeseart.com
(406) 763-4920
Megan Paulson is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Outlaw Partners.
Upcoming Events
april, 2024
Event Type :
All
All
Arts
Education
Music
Other
Sports
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a
more
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a limited palette to create different color combinations? Are you tired of carrying around 15-20 different tubes when you paint plein air? Have you ever wanted to create a certain “mood” in a painting but failed? Do you create a lot of mud? Do you struggle to achieve color harmony? All these problems are addressed in John’s workbook in clear and concise language!
Based on the bestselling “Limited Palatte, Unlimited Color” workbook written by John Pototschnik, the workshop is run by Maggie Shane and Annie McCoy, accomplished landscape (acrylic) and plein air (oil) artists,exhibitors at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery and members of the Big Sky Artists Collective.
Each student will receive a copy of “Limited Palette, Unlimited Color” to keep and take home to continue your limited palette journey. We will show you how to use the color wheel and mix your own clean mixtures to successfully create a mood for your paintings.
Each day, we will create a different limited palette color chart and paint a version of a simple landscape using John’s directives. You will then be able to go home and paint more schemes using the book for guidance.
Workshop is open to painters (oil or acrylic) of any level although students must have some basic knowledge of the medium he or she uses. Students will be provided the book ($92 value), color wheel, value scale and canvas papers to complete the daily exercises.
Sundays, April 14, 21 and 28, 2024
Noon until 6PM.
$170.
Time
14 (Sunday) 12:00 pm - 28 (Sunday) 6:00 pm