Local artist designs race logo
By LAURA BEHENNA
Bigfork Eagle
Bigfork artist Ann Guerrant’s work appeared on the T-shirts and sweatshirts of the 4,618 people who ran in the 2007 Governor’s Cup race in Helena June 2-3.
The watercolor artist first painted a picture of the finish line at the Governor’s Cup two years ago when her friend, Nancy Whitaker of Bigfork, gave her a photo of her daughter and granddaughter finishing the race and commissioned Guerrant to paint the scene. The painting turned out so well that Guerrant submitted the picture to the Governor’s Cup office.
The next thing she knew, the Governor’s Cup staff asked her to repaint the scene to include people of all ages and some major Helena landmarks, including the firetower, the walking mall and the library. Her new painting was adopted as the official logo for this year’s race, meaning the image would be emblazoned on the chest of every runner and walker as well as on other promotional products.
“It’s on numerous billboards in Great Falls and Helena,” Guerrant added.
Governor’s Cup events include five and 10-kilometer foot races, a half marathon, a full marathon, a relay marathon and a bicycle race. The events raise funds for the Caring Foundation of Montana, which pays for medical and dental services for more than 450 needy children.
A native of San Diego, Calif., Guerrant raised her family there and earned degrees from San Diego State University in history and psychology. A master’s degree in clinical psychology led her to a career as a developmental psychologist at Children’s Hospital and Health Center in San Diego. She loved her diagnostic work with infants, children and families for nearly 20 years before retiring in 2000.
She and her husband, Paul, visited the Flathead Valley on vacation in 1991 and fell in love with Bigfork.
“We loved the people and the community, and we wanted to see it in all four seasons,” she said, adding that they adjusted easily to the seasonal climate changes.
The next year the Guerrants bought some property between Bigfork and Echo Lake and eventually moved here to retire. Guerrant had made some artistic, free-form quilts and thought quilting would be her main hobby in retirement.
“Then I discovered watercolor, and that was kind of the end of my quilting,” she said. “You just never know where life’s going to take you.”
She started taking watercolor lessons from Deliah Albee of Bigfork, “then I just took off,” she said. “I always wanted to do watercolor. I just like the translucency and fluidity of it.
“The unplanned aspect of watercolor is really an attraction to me because you don’t always know what the end will be,” she added.
Guerrant shows her work at Albee’s gallery in Jewel Basin Plaza, at La Provence Restaurant, and at Brookie’s Cookies in Bigfork. This August she will have a one-woman show at the Art and Invention Gallery in Whitefish.
“I am gratified that people enjoy my art,” she said.
Guerrant said she gets her inspiration from “anything I see that piques my interest.” She particularly likes to paint wild and domestic birds and farm animals, and has painted landscapes on private commission. She’s working on a series of birds’ nests now, and is planning a painting of a friend’s ancestral land on the Blackfeet Reservation, with Chief Mountain in the background.
She would like to paint every day, though her busy summer schedule with three visiting grandchildren doesn’t always allow for that. On painting days, she rises very early and paints for an hour or two. In the winter, she can paint for seven or eight hours a day.
“To continue to grow as an artist is my biggest challenge,” she said.