I am an artist. That is a bold statement and one I am not always confident saying out loud; nor on the page. I create art in many medium, as you will see on this website....if you dare to travel these pages with me.
Creating visually interesting surroundings, full of texture, color and intrigue, is a part of who I am. Only recently did I realize, most of my creations have been influenced by my background as a Folklore Major at University of California Berkeley. Studying the art, the traditions, the stories and the beliefs of other cultures has been integral to my outlook on the world; resulting in the art I create, the travels I take and the way I interact with the world.
Much of my art includes found objects, oftentimes rusty - something I find on the street, in a box in the back of a junk store, at the hardware store - whether it is my book art, my woodcut prints and mono-prints, or my collages and assemblages. While some have called me a trash picker, I prefer the more elegant magpie; or, in French, chapardeur.
Creating visually interesting surroundings, full of texture, color and intrigue, is a part of who I am. Only recently did I realize, most of my creations have been influenced by my background as a Folklore Major at University of California Berkeley. Studying the art, the traditions, the stories and the beliefs of other cultures has been integral to my outlook on the world; resulting in the art I create, the travels I take and the way I interact with the world.
Much of my art includes found objects, oftentimes rusty - something I find on the street, in a box in the back of a junk store, at the hardware store - whether it is my book art, my woodcut prints and mono-prints, or my collages and assemblages. While some have called me a trash picker, I prefer the more elegant magpie; or, in French, chapardeur.
With a mother who was a professional watercolorist (Bette started painting at the age of 60) and a daughter, Lindsay (lindsayevansmontgomery.com), who is a professional artist and art teacher, I was surrounded by talented women. They encouraged me to explore my creative side. I took my first "real" art class in 2005 when I enrolled in a collage class with my then high-school aged daughter at the Evanston Art Center. I was hooked and started making collages and assemblages. A neighbor encouraged me to hang some of the pieces I made on my walls...that had never occurred to me: I could hang something I created on my walls....epiphany! So I kept going.
When I moved to Denver, I enrolled in more art classes (collage, assemblage, drawing, mono print, mixed media, encaustic, book art, sketching, woodcut printmaking) at the Art Students League of Denver; I traveled to workshops (always with my friend, Merrilee) to Oxbow (the summer school of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago), the Ah Haa School for the Arts in Telluride, and the Chicago Mosaic School. One of my book art pieces, Reading Circles, was featured in Studio Visit Magazine, 2016, Volume 32. Lindsay was featured in the same volume of that magazine - a great mother/daughter accomplishment.
When I moved to Denver, I enrolled in more art classes (collage, assemblage, drawing, mono print, mixed media, encaustic, book art, sketching, woodcut printmaking) at the Art Students League of Denver; I traveled to workshops (always with my friend, Merrilee) to Oxbow (the summer school of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago), the Ah Haa School for the Arts in Telluride, and the Chicago Mosaic School. One of my book art pieces, Reading Circles, was featured in Studio Visit Magazine, 2016, Volume 32. Lindsay was featured in the same volume of that magazine - a great mother/daughter accomplishment.
Merrilee and Me
2017, Oxbow
Isn't this the coolest photo? Merrilee took this photo of our reflection in the pond at Oxbow. It was an amazingly dramatic day, visually. We look distorted and yet happy....which we were and always are, together.
2017, Oxbow
Isn't this the coolest photo? Merrilee took this photo of our reflection in the pond at Oxbow. It was an amazingly dramatic day, visually. We look distorted and yet happy....which we were and always are, together.