Art Notes: News about Montana artists

Published: October 14, 2008

Kalispell photographer Trevon Baker’s image, “A Little Piece of Heaven,” was accepted into the 117th International Exhibition of Professional Photography, to be displayed Jan. 11-13 in Phoenix, AZ. The panoramic view of Flathead Lake was taken from a cliff above Eagle Bend Golf Course in Bigfork. It was one of the images selected from among 4,514 entries to the International Print Competition to make up the 2008 General and Loan Collections, the contest’s most prestigious award. The exhibition coincides with Imaging USA, an annual convention of more than 8,600 professional photographers and photographic associations. Baker owns and operates Trevon Baker Photography in downtown Kalispell.

Belgrade artist Jess Jordan’s piece “Spirit” was juried into the 10th annual Abstraction Juried Online International Art Exhibition, on display for the coming year at www.upstreampeoplegallery.com. Her prismacolor image “Spirit” was among 28 submissions that received the Special Recognition award; juror Larry Bradshaw wrote of the piece that it “meticulously captures an awesome expression of ‘Spirit,’ … The delicate inner workings are quite energetic.” The show includes artists from China, Ireland, Japan, Belgium and the Republic of Tchad in Chad, as well as artists from various parts of North America, including Canada, chosen from 300 entries.

Kalispell carver Jerry Simchuk was among 11 master decoy carvers from around the nation selected to teach six students in each of their communities how to carve a working decoy. The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art received a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts to support the “Carving Out Future Decoy Makers” program. Simchuk taught participants to carve a decoy of a ring-necked duck drake during a three-day workshop in Florence, hosted by Waterfowl Woodworks. Students from Kalispell, Florence, Missoula, Boise and Spokane attended the class. Decoys completed in the class were entered in the Chesapeake Challenge, held Oct. 11, where their works were floated and judges alongside the works of other regional carvers.

Missoula quilters Karen Burton and Libby DuBois Pettit and Hamilton artist Jamie Grant, who were finalists in the eighth biennial Pacific Northwest Quiltfest, Aug. 8-10 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle. Their entries competed against 290 quilts and wearable art works from five northwestern states and four Canadian provinces. Burton’s quilt, “Shadow Leaves,” took third place in Innovative Appliqué; and Grant’s piece, “Delft Tiles,” won third place in Traditional Appliqué. Pettit’s entry, “Duty, Honor, Country,” honors her son, U.S. Army helicopter pilot Lee E. Medley; she also creates and sends “Quilts from the Heart” to wounded soldiers.