Gallery show shares ‘Tales from the Forest and the Creatures Within’
Oil paintings such as "The Bard of the Forest," by Bozeman artist Deborah McKenna will be featured in a show at Cawdrey Gallery during Whitefish Gallery Nights. (Courtesy photo)
Oil and mixed-media paintings such "Mule Deer," by Corvallis artist Amanda Wilner will be featured in a show at Cawdrey Gallery during Whitefish Gallery Nights. (Courtesy photo)
"Always Alert," by Deborah McKenna will be displayed at Cawdrey Gallery in Whitefish June 1 in a show titled "Tales from the Forest and the Creatures Within." The artist selected a series of oil painting illustrations for an upcoming children's book written by her daughter, Lauri Wilson of Kalispell, who will be reading selected passages. (Courtesy photo)
"Supernova" an oil painting by Amanda Wilner of Corvallis will be on display at Cawdrey Gallery in Whitefish as part of a show titled "Tales from the Forest and the Creatures Within." (Courtesy photo)
Artist Deborah McKenna
Artist Amanda Wilner
The work of painters Deborah McKenna of Bozeman and Amanda Wilner of Corvallis will be featured at Cawdrey Gallery June 1 as part of Whitefish Gallery Nights.
McKenna will be showing a selection of oil painting illustrations she created for an upcoming children’s book about “harmonious relationships and the responsibilities of friendship,” authored by Kalispell writer, and McKenna’s daughter, Lauri Wilson. Wilson will be reading selected passages from the book during the event.
“Imagine that you could be the tiniest mouse living in a magical forest where all the creatures live in perfect harmony with each other. What would you see as you peek out from the leaves covering the forest floor?” McKenna wrote in her artist statement. “In this series of paintings, I have imagined just that! These forest creatures live joyfully together, playing, singing, dancing, and even helping each other out in times of need. They create an imaginary world underneath the leaf canopy of the woods — a secret world that you could only see if you were a tiny mouse watching from your hideaway.”
Wilner will be showing a collection of abstract oil and mixed-media paintings depicting wildlife to complement the theme of the show — “Tales from the Forest and the Creatures Within.”
Wilner, who trained at the New York Studio School in sculpture and drawing, holds a Master of Fine Arts in sculpture from Utah State University. Her work has appeared in the Missoula Art Museum and Yellowstone Art Museum.
“I’m never really sure what my paintings are going to look like when I’m done,” Wilner said, describing her process. “I try to plan them out, but they never turn out like I’ve planned. I want the viewer to feel that they’re accessing some other part of reality that’s not connected to the logical and predictable. Perhaps that’s why I enjoy doing the animal portrait. They are already connected to the universe in a way that we, as humans, yearn for.”
The show will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. at the gallery, 206 Lupfer Ave. in Whitefish. Wilson will be reading from 6 to 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served.
For more information email info@nancycawdrey.com or call 730-8680.
