After the success of three previous Montana Miniatures shows in Great Falls, Montana, organizer Bitterroot Frames and Publishing was ready for more than 300 applications for the 2020 show. From that immense wave of interest 100 artists have been chosen to have their artwork shown starting March 18 during Western Art Week.
Kenneth Yarus, Spring’s Promise, oil, 11 x 14"
The show, held at the same time and place as the Out West Art Show & Sale, will take place at the Heritage Inn in Great Falls. It will run concurrently alongside Bitterroot Frame’s sister event Montana Masters, as well as several other key shows that are nested within the Out West show. The show opens the evening of March 18 and continues until 6 p.m. on March 21. All the artwork will be sold via silent auction, in addition to a “buy it now” price that will allow interested collectors to take a piece with them before the conclusion of the weekend sale.
Michael Blessing, Horizon, oil, 11 x 14"
One artist in the show is Kenneth Yarus, whose work Spring’s Promise shows a captivating Montana landscape featuring snow-capped peaks and a mountain lake. “Montana sure likes to hold on to that firm handshake of winter,” Yarus says of the work. “That is why that first warm sunshine in spring feels like the awaited promise of a lover. That sweet summer is just a few more months away.”
Brian Bateman, Guardian of the Badlands, oil, 14 x 11"
Brian Bateman will be showing a piece with Native American subject matter, Guardian of the Badlands. The work features a single figure on horseback and includes lots of historical detail. “This piece was done after many trips to the Badlands in South Dakota,” Bateman says. “The quiet beauty of the rugged landscape where Lakota once roamed in abundance was my inspiration.”
Michael Blessing presents a more contemporary view of the West with his brightly painted work Horizon, showing a cowboy admiring the lands stretched out below him. “Horizon is part of my Neon West series, painted as if it were lit from within,” the artist says. “To me, it represents hope for a bright future and the limitless possibilities of what might lie beyond the horizon line. Much like the cowboys who came West looking for a better life and adventure on the trail, the joy of discovery is still a driving force for us today.”
Leslie Kirchner, Calm Before the Storm, oil, 12 x 12"
Michelle Kondos has painted a train for her work 500 Miles from Home. “We know we are looking at steel and steam, and yet a locomotive at night under the coal black skies of the Old West seems set to carry us into another more mysterious realm,” she says. “Who can look at a train without feeling the gravity of that magic? That is what I have tried to capture in this painting.” —
Montana Miniatures
March 18-21, 2020
Heritage Inn, 1700 Fox Farm Road, Great Falls, MT 59404
(406) 363-7693, www.bitterrootframes.com
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