Treescapes the focus of Cawdrey art show and gourmet dinner event

Paintings of trees through the seasons is the focus of a mother and son art show presented by Cawdrey Gallery at Dancing Spirit Ranch.

The show will feature 12 “fresh-off-the-easel” oil paintings by Nancy Dunlop Cawdrey and her son Morgan as part of a “Taste Buds and Treescapes” exhibit and dinner event set for Aug. 4.

Nancy Dunlop Cawdrey is best known in the Western art world for her colorful wildlife, floral and landscape paintings using the medium of dye on silk. She also frequently paints en plein air using oil on canvas and has spent the last year creating this body of work.

“Painting trees is always an experience of pure delight. I love to walk in the woods where my imagination takes hold. This has been true my whole life,” Nancy Dunlop Cawdrey said.

Morgan Cawdrey grew up drawing and painting with his mother and continues to work with dye on silk, oil and sometimes watercolor.

“I have been working on a large commission of paper birch trees for a local client and used the last year to hone my skills on several new oil paintings of trees, which are my contribution to the show. The commission was inspired by a smaller piece of birch trees I painted on silk, but the client needed it to be a 6 feet by 4 feet oil. I grew up learning water media from my mom and have been painting plein air with oils for the last decade, so it has been an interesting and sometimes daunting challenge using a different medium to achieve a similar effect.”

Cocktail hour begins at 5 p.m. followed by a four-course dinner prepared by Cartwright Catering at 6 p.m. with live music performed by local slide guitarist Dan Dubuque.

A limited number of tickets will be available for purchase through today, July 27, at cawdreygallery.com/events where a dinner menu is also available to view. Tickets cost $200.

Dancing Spirit Ranch is located at 1600 Conn Road in Columbia Falls.