Monthly Gallery Night features wide variety of artistic work

The Whitefish art community hosts an evening of featured artist exhibitions the first Thursday of the month.

The next Whitefish Gallery Night is June 1. Events take place at 11 participating galleries from 6-9 p.m.

The participating galleries include: Dick Idol Signature Gallery, Frame of Reference Fine Art, Going To The Sun Gallery, McGough & Company, Stephen Isley Jewelry, Stumptown Art Studio, Sunti World Art Gallery, The Purple Pomegranate, The Walking Man Frame Shop & Gallery, Whitefish Pottery & Stillwater Gallery and White Apple Gallery.

Gallery Nights occurs through October. For more information, visit www.whitefishgallerynights.org or on Facebook at Whitefish Gallery Nights-First Thursdays.

A few of the galleries are presenting featured artist or exhibits on Thursday.

- Stumptown Art Studio is showcasing over 25 artists with their creative representations on the theme “wildflowers.” The artwork will be on display through July 2.

Susan Fletcher, Stumptown board member, said typically the studio features one artist, but decided to showcase more for this special event, which involves art in a variety of genres and mediums.

“We invited them to create something to go toward this event,” she said. “Anything that cultivates the community to celebrate art, appreciate art or create art is what we do. This community has so many great artists, we wanted to bring them together in a common theme.”

The evening will also feature a book signing by botanist and co-author Rachel Potter, with the just released publication “Montana’s Pioneer Botanists: Exploring the Mountains and Prairies, Along with co-author Peter Lesica, Potter follows the discovery of botanical secrets from indigenous people, early explorers, geographers, scientists, teachers and many others through the 21st century. Also at the opening reception highlighting a drawing demonstration is artist Nancy Seiler, well-known for her posters of “Montana Native Plants” and “Montana Noxious Weeds.” For more information call the art center at 406-862-5929 or visit the website at www.stumptownartstudio.org

- The Purple Pomegranate, a fine craft specialty store, is featuring work by Billings woodworking artist, John Wojcik during the month of June. Wojcik grew up in a small town in Massachusetts with a passion for the outdoors. After graduating college with a degree in engineering technology, his love for the outdoors brought him to Montana. After two years of studying the art if inlay, Wojcik decided to develop his own unique approach to this art and eight years later has created unique silver and wood inlays that enhance any product through his company Drop Point.

Wojcik will be at the gallery on June 1 and his work will be displayed throughout the month of June.

- White Apple Gallery will hold an opening reception to celebrate “Fiskardo Shadows,” a solo exhibition by local Montana artist John Rawlings.

In this exhibition, Rawlings will be introducing a new set of work outside the 3D medium he is so well known for, and showing for the first time anywhere abstract paintings that still carry the same kind of depth you might expect from his work. Rawlings says of his work, “every morning I would sit on a balcony overlooking the tiny harbor and draw the fishing boats ... but one morning I realized that the shadows cast by chairs, tables, plants, and railings were much more interesting ... I’m particularly taken by the ease that these actual images move into abstraction.”

- Whitefish Pottery and Stillwater Gallery presents, Tara Wilson, ceramic artist from Montana City, and Jack Dykstra, watercolor artist from Whitefish.

Wilson has given workshops and lectures across the United States and her work has been shown internationally. Her woodfire work represents the natural world in their surface design, while their forms are reminiscent of figures and bodies. Her pots capture the calm serenity of a natural environment, meant to evoke the peaceful contemplation and reflection one can find in nature. Her gestural forms are a pleasure to admire and to use in everyday life.

Dykstra has been affiliated with a number of notable artist and painter groups such as the Montana Painter’s Alliance and Montana Watercolor Society, as well as teaching classes, participating in juried venues, and exhibiting in galleries and museums all over the west and Montana. His subjects range from industrial/railroad scenes, to florals, to abstract paintings, to landscapes; all influenced by a sound foundation in the dynamics of color and light. His use of plein air (or on-site) painting, sketches, studies, and reference photos truly captures the feeling of a scene, giving each painting its own mood and story.

The show will run through the month of June.

- The Walking Man Frame Shop & Gallery presents artist Jeff Troupe. In late 2014, Troupe moved to the Flathead valley from California with his wife Patti to pursue adventure, to live out the dream of the American West, and of course to paint. The show will depict Troupe’s favorite Montana subjects, Glacier National Park and the charming ski village of Whitefish, in a single show. Troupe’s passion for painting on location will be evident in this vibrant and fresh collection of work. The show runs through the month of June.