The Western Masters Show in Montana

The Western Masters Art Show in Montana

My husband and I left California yesterday and are driving to 

Montana, where I will be exhibiting my paintings in the 

2013 Western Masters Art Show and Sale in Great Falls. 

We took some time today to explore Bryce Canyon as 

we traveled through Utah. While we were at the visitor center, 

this beautiful "Steller's Jay" was being a ham and 

posed for me to take his photo. I can't wait to paint 

him when we get home!

Here are some more photos of Dixie National Forest and

Bryce Canyon in Utah. Enjoy!

"A Moment's Rest" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

A Moment's Rest

acrylic on canvas

24" x 36" x 1.5"

$1100 + $45 shipping (contact)

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Crossing the Yellowstone" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

Crossing the Yellowstone

acrylic on canvas

24" x 36" x 1.5"

RIP - This painting was destroyed by its shipping carrier, UPS, en route to a gallery.

I tried loosening up a bit more for this painting...I wanted to focus on the colors and give a more surreal impression to the landscape.

Fair river! in thy bright, clear flow 

Of crystal, wandering water,

Thou art an emblem of the glow 

Of beauty—the unhidden heart—

The playful maziness of art

In old Alberto's daughter

-Edgar Allen Poe, from "To the River"

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Little Bighorns" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

"Little Bighorns" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

acrylic on canvas

18" x 12"

$275 + $20 shipping & handling (contact)

I decided to experiment a bit with this one. I used isopropyl alcohol to dissolve droplets of paint on the canvas; I started by using the alcohol drops just on the rocks, then expanded them to the rest of the canvas.

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Allies for a Season" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

"Allies for a Season" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

acrylic on gcanvas

24" x 36" x 1.5"

$1100 + $45 shipping (contact)

The pigments have been mixed with incandescent pearl paint, and I laid the colors on layer by layer. A soft purple/magenta shows through the blue layers, but this unfortunately doesn't show up so well in the photographs.

The snow whispers about me,

And my wooden clogs

Leave holes behind me in the snow.

But no one will pass this way

Seeking my footsteps,

And when the temple bell rings again

They will be covered and gone.

-Amy Lowell, "Falling Snow"

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Grazing I" and "Grazing II" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

"Grazing I" & "Grazing II" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson
acrylic on canvas
8" x 8" x 1.5"
$115 each or $200 for the pair + either $15 or $20 shipping (contact)


I bought some crackle paste awhile ago and finally decided to try it out. I combined it with a light molding paste so that the centers of the canvases wouldn't be as crackly.

These two can be hung individually or as a pair. Grazing I has more of a reddish tint to it, and Grazing II has a lighter tan tint.

I will leave in the hills a bit of myself--
The heat of my eyes which saw them bloom;
And cicadas, nesting on thorny branches,
Will sing out the shrill cry of my desire.
-Anna de Noailles, from "The Imprint"

Kristin Jurist Haakenson
http://kristinjurist-art.com
http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com
kristinjurist@gmail.com

"The Great Gray Ghost" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

"The Great Gray Ghost" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

acrylic on canvas

14" x 11" x 1.5"

$275 + $20 shipping & handling (contact)

This particular piece is a departure from my usual four-legged subjects...I just had to paint that beautiful eye! That striking yellow-orange color is the actual hue of the owl's eye - I based the whole color scheme of the painting around it, accordingly. Iridescent gold paint is mixed in with the pigments.

The sea, the stars, the winds, the trees,

The stream, the waterfall, the dell,

The bird, the flowers, the meadow-bell--

I felt that all of these

Were but the symbols of a soul

Alive with hope or memory;

The mind's immortal harmony

That through its chambers stole.

And to the spirit's listening ear,

Whilst slept the limbs and senses all,

Made every thing seem musical;

How could I cease to hear?

-Christopher Pearch Cranch, from "The Music of Nature"

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com/

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com/

kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Shy Elk Calf" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

"Shy Elk Calf" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

acrylic on canvas

11" x 14"

$365 framed

Available for purchase from Freshwater Studio & Gallery, Dillon, MT

I still had wet paint leftover from some recent paintings, so I decided to keep rolling with the elk theme and produced this little guy. I never realized how knobby an elk calf's knees were until I painted them...

April had covered the hills

With flickering yellows and reds,

The sparkle and coolness of snow

Was blown from the mountain beds.

-Amy Lowell, "Azure and Gold"

Kristin Jurist Haakenson
http://kristinjurist-art.com/
http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com/
kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Awakening" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

"Awakening" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson
acrylic on canvas
18" x 24" x 1.5"
$775 unframed
Available for purchase from Freshwater Studio & Gallery, Dillon, MT


Here's another elk in dawn light with an entirely different color scheme & mood (as compared to Morning's Call). Iridescent copper paint is mixed in with the pigments to give the piece a more subdued glow.

I've been having a lot of fun trying new directions lately - it's far too easy to box oneself in, so I'm working on experimenting more and forcing myself to let go of the attention to composition in my reference photos. Over the past few months, I've been focusing more on the portraying the form of a subject (I waxed philosophical on that in July) - I'm trying to convey the "elk-iness" of an elk, the "morning-ness" of morning, etc. I have a lot of work to do, but it's an exciting journey:)


How fair it comes, the wonderful hour
When nature from sleep awakes,
And over the face of the earth at last
A newborn gladness breaks!
The stars grow pale in the shadowy sky,
And over the mountains creep
The mists that are part of the waking world,
And part of the earth's sweet sleep.
The restless birds in the tree-tops high
Are shaking their wings at last,
And chirp, and twitter their songs of praise,
As the dawn comes on so fast.
But who can tell of the wondrous charm,
When over the distant hills
The day's bright king in his glory comes
And the earth with radiance fills?
Now scatter, ye mists, from the mountain-side,
And die in the sky's soft blue;
For the dawn has passed, and the day is here,
With its light and joy so true.
-Mary Dowe Brine, "The Awakening"

Kristin Jurist Haakenson
http://kristinjurist-art.com/
http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com/
kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Morning's Call" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

"Morning's Call" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

acrylic on canvas
24" x 12"
$625 framed
Available for purchase from Freshwater Studio & Gallery, Dillon, MT

This was my first attempt at painting an elk, and surprisingly enough, I found that the antlers were my favorite part of the process...I had assumed that they'd drive me batty. I mixed more of that lovely iridescent gold paint in with my pigments. I dripped paint from the bottom of the canvas toward the top to vaguely suggest the appearance of a field.

Have you ever heard an elk's bugle, by the way? It's a really surprising sound for such a massive creature to make: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYzWmKlZtrU

Kristin Jurist Haakenson
http://kristinjurist-art.com/
http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com/
kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Morning Mist" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

"Morning Mist" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

acrylic on canvas

16" x 20"

$575 unframed

Available for purchase from Freshwater Studio & Gallery, Dillon, MT

I finished this painting up at an Art-a-Thon at the Proctor Farmers Market in Tacoma, WA back in July. We were painting all day at the market to raise money for the food bank. It was a great experience, but the weather was so cold, windy, and drizzly - strange weather for July! Alexis St. John, another artist painting at the market that day, said the buffalo had a very meditative look to him, so I decided to keep going in that direction with the painting.

Kristin Jurist Haakenson
http://kristinjurist-art.com/
http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com/
kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Summer Relief" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

"Summer Relief" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson
acrylic on canvas
24" x 12"
$625 framed
Available for purchase at Freshwater Studio & Gallery, Dillon, MT

Sketching this moose prior to painting him was my first foray into the world of moose-drawing. They're beautiful creatures - I love those big goofy grins and huge noses. I remember being in the Grand Tetons once with my parents when I was young...we were hiking and spotted a moose calf no more than 20 feet away from us, just off the trail. Its mother was close by, eyeing us suspiciously and ready to trample us if need be. It was really quite an impressive encounter, and I gained a lot of healthy respect for those big animals. And here's my little nod to them: a bull moose getting some relief from the summer heat.

I used my new iridescent pearl paint for this one. It's particularly noticeable when the light hits it from different angles.


"Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it alright will rather preserve its life than destroy it."
-Henry David Thoreau

Kristin Jurist Haakenson
http://kristinjurist-art.com/
http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com/
kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Uphill" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

"Uphill" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

acrylic on canvas

24" x 12"

$625 framed

Available for purchase at Freshwater Studio & Gallery, Dillon, MT

The mighty American bison is truly a remarkable creature - it's so solid and powerful. What I love in particular about them, though, is how they're both majestic and goofy - they always have that ridiculous patchy fur in warm weather and they like to roll around in the mud as much as a dog does.

The background for this painting consists of several layers with both palette knife and brush work. I wanted it to have a sort of cave-ish appearance, and the acrylic gels work really well when trying to achieve a rocky, organic look. The buffalo himself is painted in shades of red and yellow, and his horns & hooves have a blue-ish tint to them.

"The road uphill and the road downhill are one and the same."

-Heraclitus of Ephesus

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kristinjurist@gmail.com

Ruth Andre Painting-Bison

When I read about the history of our great country, I am enamored with what must of been, what it must of been like to see the Buffalo roaming the prairies. Painting buffalo has become a passion of mine and I hope to paint many more. Enjoy

Ruth Andre Painting-Bison Bull

"Bison Bull"

36x36-inches, oil on canvas

www.ruthandre.com

andre@ruthandre.com

Ruth Andre Painting-"Careful"

The vacation season is here and this painting is a friendly warning to be careful of the Bison at the national parks. They are big animals and from what the locals say, they are twitchy, or unpredictable. I do love seeing Bison running free. Enjoy!

"Careful", 11x14-inches, o/c by Ruth Andre

www.ruthandre.com

http://apaintingday.blogspot.com