Winston Publishing

portfolio • 51 studio 706 artist guild show Studio 706 Guild Cascade County Artists Gather to Offer Affordable Art, Classes, and Contests By Shannon Ruckman Studio 706 Artists Guild Civic Center - Gibson Room 2 Park Drive South Standing Guard • 18" x 24" • Acrylic Steve Tilleraas Painter Hibiscus • 18" x 24" • Acrylic Steve Tilleraas grew up in Blooming Prairie in southeast Minnesota and graduated from U of MN in 1972. He and his wife moved to Great Falls with their first daughter, where Steve taught vocational Horticulture/ Agriculture for nine years. They started Tilleraas Landscape Nursery in 1986. 406-590-0092 Steve always carries a camera to photograph landscape jobs and has made it a habit to stop along the way to capture old buildings, wildlife, and Montana's landscapes. One night in 2002, while working on a landscape design, he began sketching then on the back of his work book. He realized then that it wasn't too bad and immediately began taking classes from local artists. Steve paints primarily in acrylics, but resin pour and pastels are something he wants to dip into more. Steve brings a collection of photos and paintings to this year's show, with two featuring his interpretation of the photo. Studio 706 Guild Show Artists Barb Chigbrow Alana Hastings Margaret Hays Vera Killabrew Linda Nelson Gil Par Darlene Sanford Bonnie Seaburg Elaine Sedlack Steve Tilleraas STUDIO 706 GUIDE ART SHOW Event Schedule Thursday, March 16 Meet the Artists | 5 - 8 pm Friday, March 17 Show Opens | 10 am - 7 pm Bead a Bangle Class | 1 pm Dot Painting Class | 3 pm Saturday, March 18 Show Opens |10 am - 7 pm Bead a Buddy Class | 1pm "Can You Find It" Winner Announced | 3 pm Great Falls Civic Center (downtown) Second Floor, Gibson Room 2 Park Dr. S. he Studio 706 Artists Guild show includes a variety of art created by local artists who want to share their talents and skills with the public. "Studio 706 Artists Guild is a local non-profit artist association organized to improve their talent, mentor and provide exhibition opportunities," explains Steve Tilleraas, an acrylic landscape and animal painter. "We have artists working in a variety of media, including watercolor, oil, acrylic, jewelry, woodcarving, and photography." Nature photographer Elaine Sedlack of Choteau, Mont, started her artistic photography journey when she got her first camera in 1980. "I loved to take pictures of frost, flowers, lichen, moss, and things with interesting textures," she recalls. en, Sedlack took a class taught by a Studio 706 Artists Guild member to improve her skills. "ey are very encouraging, nice people to work with," she says. Today, Sedlack continues to take close-up photographs of nature. "I love flowers, they are my favorite thing to photograph," she says. "I live by a pond and always find the geese fascinating. Last year the goslings were hiding in the caails – they were fun to watch (and photograph)." e Studio 706 Artists Guild once met in a house located at 706 Seventh Avenue in Great Falls, Mont., but now meet in the Gibson Room of the Civic Center, says Tilleraas. ey show their art twice a year, creating educational opportunities for the public and displaying art created by local youth as well. "We display the artworks of Cascade County seniors who are going into art in college and applying for the Bill Chigbrow Memorial Art Scholarship," explains TIlleraas. In addition to art displays and sales, the Studio 706 Artists Guild offers fun art classes and a scavenger hunt contest free to the public during Western Art Week. Linda Nelson is teaching a beading bangles and jewelry class, and Bonnie Seaburg is teaching how to paint on rocks with dots. Sherry Tuss is giving a lesson in watercolor painting. In addition, Western Art Week visitors can participate in the "Can You Find It" scavenger hunt contest. "It's a contest run in downtown Great Falls to find sections of buildings and architecture that are interesting," explains Tilleraas. "ey get a copy of photos and have to find where it is located. en they are entered into a drawing to win a prize sponsored by the Tilleraas Nursery." e Tilleraas Nursery also puts raffle baskets together to raise money for the Bill Chigbrow Memorial Scholarship. Prizes are awarded Saturday aernoon. Steve Tiileraas - Elephant • Acrylic T

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