Passion for painting rewarded with college exhibit

After working with some nontraditional students for years, Karen Leigh, Flathead Valley Community College adjunct art professor, decided to reward the artists with an art display.

The students, Eileen Alexander, Barbara Lewis and Linda Olsen, are all at least partially retired but found a passion in painting.

Alexander, a former teacher, specializes in wildlife paintings.

“Bears are a big deal with me,” she said. “I like wildlife, I like tromping out in the world.”

All three students hung their paintings on the bottom floor of the college’s Arts and Technology building in the student gallery section.

Leigh specializes in watercolor and her three proteges have excelled at working with the medium.

“If you use good materials, you can just wash it down the drain if you don’t like it,” she said of watercolors. “I love the medium because of the color and the paper that just glows through. It draws you in.”

Leigh is one of the longest-tenured faculty at the college, having taught art for 42 years starting in 1973. She said students of all ages still manage to impress her.

“The whole art department really is fabulous,” Leigh said. “Every year I meet my students, maybe two-thirds or one-half are young degree-seeking students. Some have never held a paintbrush before, some have done art all their lives. What they have in common is that they are all very serious students. They take it seriously.”

But the older students don’t shrink away from working hard, either. Lewis has a group of paintings that show stark contrasts and abstract concepts while representing the great outdoors.

“I’ve never been able to paint what’s exactly in front of me,” she said. “I use a lot of negative space.”

Lewis comes back every year to work in the class, since she feels it is part of her “tribe,” a group of like-minded artists like herself who encourage and foster creativity. She said she has been coming to the college to paint for at least 15 years.

Olsen uses past experiences to challenge and improve her skills.

“In my artist statement I said I didn’t think I could paint people,” she said. “I took a watercolor class from Karen and started to work on that.”

Pictures of Mexican markets, picturesque postcard-like paintings and a portrait of a biker make up the bulk of Olsen’s collection. 

Leigh is an accomplished artist, with works included in the collections of Beringer Wineries, ConAgra Industries and the Smithsonian. Her work has been honored by the White House and she has been featured in Montana Woman magazine.

“Watercolor has something you don’t see in other mediums,” she said. “It bleeds and blends and drips. It’s a combination of freedom and control.

The exhibition will run on the lower floor of the Arts and Technology building until March 27.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.