Carol Spurgeon
Totally new to the creation of art with paint paper and brush, totally insecure and unfamiliar with watercolor words of definition, and unembarrassed at the muddy shapelessness on expensive paper – Carol began her art journey. “No!, no, no!, my workshop teacher said when she saw my clouds were nearly rubbed through the practice paper. Was that really 40 years ago?”
Each learning experience multiplied Carol’s efforts at self-learning and continue. “Admirers say I have a style, but it is not my goal in painting. My goals have evolved from just managing the media on various papers to finding “the happening.” I know it when I recognize the “perfect” shapes, light or feelings of an object, person, animal, or scene. I want to keep experiencing the joy of that moment. Thus, I paint intrepidly, quizzed, wonderingly— all the while to see if it will happen again. “Maybe one in a hundred paintings “ said artist Mario Cooper, may find success as a real painting, embodying all the components of a “ work of art”. So, I quite carefully call myself an artist.
Many “unreachable" goals and awards have surprisingly come my way. Acceptance in juried local, state and national shows have greatly rewarded and encouraged me do to more. One international acceptance with a very Montana subject painting sent me running to the shed to find my husband with an excited entourage of pets following. May we all have such a “following”.
Carol moved to Great Falls after teaching in St. Louis with her husband who was in the USAF. They raised two sons. Her memoir, “How Could He?- an Ordinary Journey with and Extraordinary God”, available at Gallery 16, Great Falls, Montana, and Barnes & Noble. She is part of Gallery 16 in Great Falls, as well as involved at church and the Great Falls Rescue Mission. She has taught several workshops for around Great Falls through the years..
Totally new to the creation of art with paint paper and brush, totally insecure and unfamiliar with watercolor words of definition, and unembarrassed at the muddy shapelessness on expensive paper – Carol began her art journey. “No!, no, no!, my workshop teacher said when she saw my clouds were nearly rubbed through the practice paper. Was that really 40 years ago?”
Each learning experience multiplied Carol’s efforts at self-learning and continue. “Admirers say I have a style, but it is not my goal in painting. My goals have evolved from just managing the media on various papers to finding “the happening.” I know it when I recognize the “perfect” shapes, light or feelings of an object, person, animal, or scene. I want to keep experiencing the joy of that moment. Thus, I paint intrepidly, quizzed, wonderingly— all the while to see if it will happen again. “Maybe one in a hundred paintings “ said artist Mario Cooper, may find success as a real painting, embodying all the components of a “ work of art”. So, I quite carefully call myself an artist.
Many “unreachable" goals and awards have surprisingly come my way. Acceptance in juried local, state and national shows have greatly rewarded and encouraged me do to more. One international acceptance with a very Montana subject painting sent me running to the shed to find my husband with an excited entourage of pets following. May we all have such a “following”.
Carol moved to Great Falls after teaching in St. Louis with her husband who was in the USAF. They raised two sons. Her memoir, “How Could He?- an Ordinary Journey with and Extraordinary God”, available at Gallery 16, Great Falls, Montana, and Barnes & Noble. She is part of Gallery 16 in Great Falls, as well as involved at church and the Great Falls Rescue Mission. She has taught several workshops for around Great Falls through the years..
Sandy Walker
Sandy is a native Great Falls artist and explorer who enjoys nature and wildlife, photographing and painting all that God has created to enjoy. “I've enjoyed working with oil and began to explore the painting process 40 years ago and learned about details of color. When I began watercolor painting 30 years ago, I discovered the fluid creativity and beauty that I’ve achieved with this medium.
Photography has been a means of exploration in capturing the world around me using photos for design & composition. Capturing those few seconds of a gorgeous sunset or sunrise, of landscapes of backcountry hikes or drives and that wonderful rare moment of capturing animals and birds wild & carefree, is the motivating drive for me to be creative.”
Sandy’s opportunities living in Alaska, Virginia, Massachusetts and, now, back in her home state of Montana, has allowed her to experience those areas. “I always have a camera along to capture my experiences. Some of my paintings are tributes to some favorite artists of the past. I've taken their creations and placed my own spin on them. Vincent van Gogh's “Starry Night” shows a room with a door ajar, the wind blowing window curtains showing the landscape outside. In Salvador Dali's use of flowing or melting objects, I've created a scene where a dog is holding a melting keyboard in his mouth, while his head protrudes through a sea, a few inches thick, held up by a pitchfork. Another painting, “The Scream” by Edvard Munch, which shows a man at a craft fair, with pink flamingos, kites, and kids clothes on nearby tables”.
Sandy has shown her work at the Missouri Falls Fine Arts Show & Sale, at the Farmer’s Market and annually at the Montana State Fair with the Great Falls Photography Club.
Sandy is a native Great Falls artist and explorer who enjoys nature and wildlife, photographing and painting all that God has created to enjoy. “I've enjoyed working with oil and began to explore the painting process 40 years ago and learned about details of color. When I began watercolor painting 30 years ago, I discovered the fluid creativity and beauty that I’ve achieved with this medium.
Photography has been a means of exploration in capturing the world around me using photos for design & composition. Capturing those few seconds of a gorgeous sunset or sunrise, of landscapes of backcountry hikes or drives and that wonderful rare moment of capturing animals and birds wild & carefree, is the motivating drive for me to be creative.”
Sandy’s opportunities living in Alaska, Virginia, Massachusetts and, now, back in her home state of Montana, has allowed her to experience those areas. “I always have a camera along to capture my experiences. Some of my paintings are tributes to some favorite artists of the past. I've taken their creations and placed my own spin on them. Vincent van Gogh's “Starry Night” shows a room with a door ajar, the wind blowing window curtains showing the landscape outside. In Salvador Dali's use of flowing or melting objects, I've created a scene where a dog is holding a melting keyboard in his mouth, while his head protrudes through a sea, a few inches thick, held up by a pitchfork. Another painting, “The Scream” by Edvard Munch, which shows a man at a craft fair, with pink flamingos, kites, and kids clothes on nearby tables”.
Sandy has shown her work at the Missouri Falls Fine Arts Show & Sale, at the Farmer’s Market and annually at the Montana State Fair with the Great Falls Photography Club.
