Official Guide to Art Week Great Falls, Montana March 15th-19th, 2023
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1401637
20 outwest art show & sale he Montana Watercolor Society (MTWS) will celebrate its fifth year at Western Art Week this year, which also marks its second appearance as part of the Out West Art Show and Sale. Head on up to Room 249 at the Heritage Inn, where you'll find an exquisite array of framed, original work by eight of the society's stellar watermedia artists. The MTWS, founded in 1983, seeks to encourage the advancement, study, appreciation, and creation of watercolor painting both within and outside Montana's borders. The group boasts over 200 members from across the nation. MTWS's Artist of Merit for this Special Edition of Western Art Week is the award-winning Carol McSweeney, a Boston native who relocated to the Flathead Valley three decades ago. Carol says she has used a variety of mediums throughout her creative career, but that watercolor has always been her homeplace. "Watercolor was the first medium I used when I began to paint, and the one that I always return to," she says. "The beauty of the pigment floating in water is mesmerizing to me, and the possibilities of application are endless, ranging from thin, transparent washes to the thickness of butter upon the paper." When working with watercolor, the person holding the brush isn't necessarily the one who controls the destiny of the final painting, MTWS Artist Carol Spurgeon says. "Watercolor gives the artist a chance to be an artist – one who sees and responds," she explains. "The media Montana Watercolor Society Art Show forces that because of the spontaneity of the water-mixed color. It becomes a game of reaction to all the elements that hopefully create a painting." MTWS Artist Roberta Burruss says she loves how the "fresh, clean colors" of these particular paints "mix in lively ways on the cotton paper." Above all, they make painting "en plein air" a breeze, the Corvallis-based painter adds. By Holly Matkin Montana Watercolor Society Show Schedule Wednesday, August 18 Show Open | 5pm-10pm Thursday, Aug 19 - Saturday, Aug 21 Show Open | 10am-10pm Heritage Inn • 1700 Fox Farm Road T A Celebration of Premier Western Artists Original Paintings • Room #249 August 18-21 • 2021 w w w.montanawatercolorsociety.org 1700 Fox Farm Rd • Great Falls, MT Heritage Inn Out West Art Show & Sale The Herd Master • 15"x 22" MONTANA WATERCOLOR SOCIETY