Hiking in Montana's Bitterroot Valley

(Above: Selfie along the Blodgett Canyon Trail. Click on any image to enlarge.)

When I get back home to South Carolina, I'll have time to photograph the work I've made here during the art residency and eventually, I'll even have a link to the end-of-session presentation I gave last Tuesday for Open AIR, the residency's hosting organization.  Otherwise, I'm behind on my blogging but that's because I've been busy, busy, busy!  I took advantage of several days when there was clear skies and warmer-than-normal temperatures to go hiking!  In all, I went on five different trails in four different Bitterroot Valley locations:  Blodgett Canyon Trail (just three miles in and three miles out despite the fact that the trail goes on and on and on!); Blodgett Canyon Overlook (three miles round trip); Calf Creek Trail (four miles); Baker Lake Trail (three-and-a-half miles); and Sweathouse Waterfall Trail (five miles).  I love walking in nature and autumn in Montana is truly spectacular as you can see by scrolling down to some of my favorite pictures!

 

(Above and below: Blodgett Canyon Trail)

(Above:  Blodgett Canyon Trail.)

(Above and below:  Blodgett Canyon Overlook Trail.)

 

(Above:  Snowball made along the Blodgett Canyon Overlook Trail!  I could have made snowballs along the Baker Lake Trail too!)

(Above:  Selfie at Baker Lake)

(Above and below:  Shots from the Baker Lake Trail.)

 

(Above:  The hiking duo I joined for Calf Creek Trail.  There are plenty of hiking groups in this area and I got connected to the women's wilderness group that organized this outing!)

(Above:  Pinnacle formation along the Calf Creek Trail.)

(Above:  Selfie at Sweathouse Falls. Below: Just the falls!)

 

(Above and below:  Scenes from the Sweathouse Falls Trail.)

The Daly Mansion

 

(Above:  The Daly Mansion.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

One of the attractions here in Hamilton is the Daly Mansion, a grand home that started when Marcus Daly purchased the once existing farmhouse in 1886.  He had it remodeled for his family by 1889 but renovated and expanded it in 1897 in the popular Queen Anne Victorian style. From 1907-1910, after Mr. Daly died, the house was again enlarged to the current Georgian-Revival mansion with over 50 rooms, including 25 bedrooms and15 bathrooms.

 

There is also a music room, a billiard room, a trophy room with stuffed animal heads, a sun room, a formal dining room, and play rooms for the children. The 24,000 square feet (plus a full basement) were used by Mrs. Margaret Daly for family gatherings and entertaining her many friends.

Mrs. Daly died in 1941. Then the home was boarded up with all its furnishings until ownership changed to a state-owned property managed by the Daly Mansion Preservation Trust, a non-profit started in 1986. That same year, the furnishings were all sold at auction.  The Trust bought quite a bit of the original furniture and items, and over the years, many of the original things have been donated back to the museum.  

 

The home and 26.5 acres of gardens opened to the public in a year later.  More recently, the television series Yellowstone and 1923 have used rooms for filming!  Keep scrolling for some of my favorite pictures taken during the excellent, docent-led tour!

 

Natural Dyeing Workshop

 

(Above:  The three instructors for a Natural Dyeing Workshop with the test pieces hanging to dry in the background.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

Last week I was able to take a half day natural dyeing workshop.  It was WONDERFUL.  The instructors were fun, knowledgeable, and very attentive.  They also provided everything for everyone, including ...

... all the plant material!  They also scoured all the fabric and applied the mordant.  All I had to do was show up!

Then ... lay out plant material!

This was the "test" piece ... a way to experiment and learn the process!  Keep scrolling to see what this became!

Next was a bandanna sized piece.  We had to learn how to lay plant material out on only half the fabric ...

... position the "blanket" (a piece of flannel without mordant that was soaked in onion skin dye) over the flower ... and then lay out more flower.  This is then covered in plastic and ...

... rolled up tightly and bound with string ...

... and then steamed in a giant pot.  Obviously, the reason for "doing half" and folding it over has to do with the size of the pot!  The one-inch in diameter wooden dowel has to fit in the pot!

This is what came out of the pot!  (Although I snapped a photo of the back side!)

This is how it looked when dry, ironed, and free-motion stitched!  I have an idea for how I'll use it in the future!  Now ... down below are my two test pieces ... stitched!

Free-motion machine stitched with black cotton thread and densely seed stitched by hand.

Free-motion machine stitched.

Artists Along the Bitterroot Studio Tour

 

(Above:  One of more than a dozen artist studios visited this past weekend.  Click on any image to enlarge!)

Blogging hasn't happened much since I've arrived in Hamilton, Montana for my one-month art residency through Open AIR but this oversight hasn't really bothered me!  Why?  Well ... I've been busy!  I have 24/7 access to Explore the Arts where I have a little nook for my personal use.  I've been keeping to east coast time too!  This means that I've arrived before 7:00 AM and have gone right to work.  I'm also stitching after dinner!  I've been on several trails and met all sorts of wonderful people.  Some of these people are other artists!  That happened a lot last weekend.

Last weekend was the annual "Artists Along the Bitterroot" studio tour.  (They actually do it twice a year!)  Two artists joined Explore the Arts owner Barbara Liss in using this space for the tour.  Because I'm obviously NOT an artist from the Bitterroot valley, not a member of the group, and didn't pay a participation fee, I agreed not to be in my nook from 10 - 5 last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  (It just wouldn't be fair!)  This was no problem!  I went on the tour, visiting more than a dozen places.  I managed to get to every single studio (except for the artist who had to cancel due to sickness).  I talked to lots of artists working in all sorts of media. 

I went on both Saturday and Sunday ... but Friday was also quite artsy!  I met with fellow SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) member Heidi Zielinski and her Bricolage Group.  One of the great resources of SAQA is the ease of finding other art quilters using the membership directory.  Boy were the ladies talented and so generous with their time.  I had so much fun that I totally forgot to snap a picture!  

I didn't take that many photos on the studio tour either ... just a couple.  For the most part, I was just looking at art and noticing many differences between the studios here as compared to the ones I know back in South Carolina.  Lots of these Montanans live on very large pieces of land that can easily accommodate separate structures for their studios.  Many have professional ProPanel walls in their spaces to showcase work that is for sale.  There aren't as many ceramicists here and only one photographer was on the tour.  Obviously, wildlife was a dominate subject ... lots of bison, fox, deer, wolves, and wild goats.  Realism reigned supreme. There weren't many abstract works at all.  Most importantly, however, was the overwhelming number of large windows to gorgeous landscapes and natural light.

It was difficult for me to remember the names of the artists.  (I was busy using Google Maps to get from place to place!  This is why I haven't listed the artists in the first four photos!) Yet, I will remember this guy!  This is Philip Mahn.  His work was seriously awesome.  To build wheel-turned pots as big as he did is an incredible feat.  He answered every question about his process and his incredible wood-burning kiln.  Without a doubt, his was my favorite studio!

There were even two tiny bats hanging inside the kiln!  When the kiln is fired, it takes a cord of wood a day ... for four days.  It requires constant oversight, 24/7!  Amazingly, his prices were rather low and I am now the proud owner of a garlic jar!

Montana Art Residency ... so far!

(Above:  Another strand for my Lace Forest, under construction.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

It's been almost two weeks since I've been here in Hamilton, Montana enjoying a one-month art residency through Open Air.  I've already blogged about the embellished wooden thread spool ornament workshop that I conducted last week but I haven't shared yet any of my own projects or the things I've been doing!This post will cover some of the ways I've been spending my time!

(Above:  A large box crammed with lace!

After taking Steve to the airport ... (he'll fly back at the end of the month to drive me home!) ... I went to an absolutely amazing non-profit called GAM ... which stands for Giving Art to Missoula. This place has very limited hours but is a fabulous resource for any creative person looking for art materials and supplies. Inside the very clean and extremely organized space, I found everything from paint to books, from jewelry supplies to pipe cleaners, from yarn to scrapbook stamps, from embroidery floss to tracing paper, from buttons to bolts of fabric ... but NOTHING WAS PRICED.  Then I saw the sign.  Everything was available for any level of donation (or even free for the taking!) My heart rate jumped immediately.  For several "small items", the suggested donation was a buck.  For several medium sized items, five dollars. Large items for ten.  The last line read:  If you really like us, how about fifty dollars.  I resisted almost everything (because I am lucky to have a giant stash!0 but I couldn't leave without the lace!  I removed the small amount of non-white and non-off-white lace from this big box and left a fifty dollar bill.  It was SO WORTH IT. There were miles and miles of lace in that box!  For the next several day, I stitched up five new strands for The Lace Forest.  There are now 51 strands, one more than my initial wish, a number pulled out of thin air but my personal goal.  I still have plenty of lace left but I've temporarily run out of the upholstery cord on which I stitch the strips of lace.  (I think I know where I can find more!)

(Above:  The Cook + Book Club potluck for October.)

Last week I was invited to the monthly meeting of the Cook + Book Club.  This group is one of the book clubs organized by the local bookshop, Chapter One.  Members of the book club buy, read, and then prepared one of the recipes which is shared at the next meeting,  Did I get lucky ... especially since I no longer cook, bake, or even do the grocery shopping?  Oh yes I did!

(Above: The Art of Pie by Kate McDermott.)

 

Every member raved about the recipes but also about the writing style. They were all quite impressed with the stories in the book ... and they got to tell the author their compliments over a Zoom meeting!  Kate McDermott herself logged on to talk to the book club!  

 

(Above:  Cutting the honeyberry pie.)

 

As for the potluck ... well ... not only was there a classic apple pie but there was a chocolate pie in a ground nut crust, a chicken pot pie, and a honeyberry/haksap berry (which substituted the recipe's call for blueberries by using the local fruit ... and it was definitely my favorite of the evening!) 

 

(Above:  A Ratatouille pie!)

 

As a non-baker, I learned plenty about various ingredients, gluten free substitutions, and how Kate McDermott secured a publishing deal.  But, I also was introduced to a ratatouille pie.  I'd never tasted one!

 

(Above:  A stone floor mat ... made by me!)

 

Later, I was invited to visit Jennifer Clothier, an extremely talented mosaic artist who creates artwork in tile, glass, and stone.  Her stone mats are incredibly unusual and most can be used outside.  She lives on a mountain top in a most glorious house overlooking the nearby, now snow frosted ridge.  The driveway is a series of hairpin curves off a hard-packed road.  Driving up let me know I was really in MONTANA, a wild western place where the outline of hills resemble a child's drawing and the fall colors are those on printed calendars.  She invited me to make a stone mat in her well appointed studio.

 

(Above:  Jennifer and her stone storage/sorting area.)

 

Before arriving, I assumed I would be making a little thing, perhaps measuring 12" x 12" or likely smaller.  I was stunned when she pulled out such a large mat.  It was quite fun but also a lot more difficult to master!  

 

(Above: Jennifer holding up the stone mat I made on an industrial metal tray.)

 

For a beginner, she said I did very well but it would take me a long, long time to approach the intricacy and detail she manages to put together!  

 

(Above:  Jennifer holding one of her glass mosaic animal skulls.)

 

Jennifer is an avid bicyclist and hiker.  On her mountain top walks, she often finds animal bones.  These are bleached and incorporated into mosaic masterpieces.

 

(Above:  Another skull mosaic.)

 

There's no doubt that nature and art collide in this artwork.  The wild landscape of Montana likely accounts for many of the styles and choices made by the area artists.  I'm excited to next be off to a natural dyeing workshop ... again, a nature inspired approach.  So check back to this blog!  I'll be posting again soon!