July 1-29 Gallery I: Patricia Marquard "Tone Poems of Color", Gallery II Williston Area Visual Artists

“Currently I am an artist/art teacher residing in Minot, North Dakota.  I am a commissioned artist, as well as an instructor, and art demonstrator for Minot Council of the Arts in various events during the year, and occasionally at MSU.  I teach High School art at White Shield School, on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

A Wisconsin native and art graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, I have won awards at art competitions in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

 I paint with an Impressionistic style.  My artist’s philosophy is that form is concrete, although it can be combined and rearranged.  Color is relative and can be used in any way that the imagination can perceive.  My realism in drawing sometimes has surrealistic overtones.  My mediums are oil, watercolor and colored pencil.

 In my Cathedral Series the buildings are impressionistic in that while the architecture is representational there are details that are omitted and areas that are somewhat vague.  Color is definitely arbitrary. For example the interior of a sanctuary may encircle the façade of the cathedral.  The next series was “Hawaiian Flowers and Trees,” some of which have been sold and are no longer part of the traveling exhibit. Occasionally I will paint a scene from my travels in the United States.

The motivation for my style is that while I am a realist in rendering, I take liberties with what I see, according to mood, interest and the flow of the picture.  I sometimes enjoy color for color’s sake and that makes for arbitrary color in some of my artwork.”

 Patricia Marquard

Celebrating 50 Years of Fort Union, June 1-30, 2016 Gallery II

Gallery II

"The Largest and Best Built": Celebrating 50 Years of Fort Union, 1966-2016  

June 1-30, 2016

Michelle Lindblom "Nuances" June 1-30, 2016 Gallery I

Artist Statement: The title of the exhibition “Nuances” describes the visual subtleties of the textures, colors, shapes and movements in nature which are an apt metaphor for our everyday encounters. I’ve always been intensely mindful of my surroundings and as my artistic journey continues, I find a heightened sensitivity and an increased interest in engaging and visualizing those everyday encounters. The resulting visual nuances are intriguing and unique, much like nature, herself.

Process: This exhibition is a result of experimenting with and assimilating the monotype and collage processes. These processes lend themselves well to the concept of layering materials and ideas. My manner of experimentation and discovery is both conscious and subconscious, not unlike like that of a child playing and naturally interacting with his/her environment. First, I create a number of simple monotypes that I can use as base layer for the collages or that can be adhered using the technique of chine-colle’. Secondly, I surround myself with a variety of materials which include printmaking paper scraps, dried leaves/plants, ribbon, wire mesh, string, scraps of previous prints, and whatever else is available and can be run through my printmaking press or glued relatively flat on a sheet of BFK printmaking paper. When using thin papers such as Japanese rice papers, I can sometimes layer up to four monotypes on a single piece, in addition to the variety of other materials I adhere to the surface. Once the collage is complete, each piece is then brushed with matt medium and pressed flat.

Chine-colle’ – printmaking technique in which the image is transferred to a surface that is bonded to a heavier support in the printing process, allowing the printer to print on delicate surfaces such as Japanese papers or linen.

Monotype – A single print taken from an image created in oil or printing ink on glass, plexiglass or metal.

May 2-31 Paintings by Mandeville. Todd Mandeville Gallery II

Artist Reception Friday May 13th, 6-8PM

Artist Statement

Being born and raised in Eastern Montana, along the hi-line, I have come to appreciate the rugged beauty we have here and the struggled our ancestors had to overcome. I am proud to be a Montanan and in my paintings I am painting a moment that time have forgotten, a feeling that particular object gives me. Each old truck and tractor has a story of their own to tell, we have shuck a fantastic history here. My inspirations comes from taking every day objects that we take for granted, some people think of as junk and showing how beautiful it can be.

I started my career as an artist late in my life; at the age of 45, during the most troubled time in my life. It gave me a purpose and a focus to make it through that time and I couldn’t live without it.

I always say I am painting a feeling, not just an object and with each painting a piece of me goes with it.

“Franky’s Truck” is my 5th painting and is the painting that gave me the courage to think I could actually sell my art. After I enter it at the fair, people were calling me to buy it.

Even if I didn’t sell my art, I will always paint.