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3rd Annual Young Voices Art Exhibit

mixed media on wood panel by Adia Terry
Our first show of 2018 is one of our favorites …

… because it makes everyone so happy and inspires us all to pay attention to the child-artist within. The third annual Young Voices art exhibit runs from February 2 through 19. Please join us for an opening reception with the artists on Friday, Feb 2 from 5 to 7pm.

An uplifting art show featuring works by seven 1+1=1 studio art students 

Young Voices artists, ages 8 to 15, have taken art classes throughout the summer and many have continued with one-on-ones during the school year. Artists include Ema Terry, Adia Terry, Sophia Albright, Rachel Kuntz, Silas Fruge, Lilly Hamper and Scarlet Carpenter. (See photo albums below for some sneak peeks.)

Each young artist participates in the behind-the-scenes tasks of curating and mounting an art exhibit: from planning, promoting and mounting the exhibit to patching holes in the walls, writing artist statements, bios and short gallery talks – the lessons they learn are about life as well as art.

The student artists will be present during the opening reception to meet the public and give 1-minute gallery talks. This year we are showing sculptural works by the younger artists and plein-air paintings and drawings by the teens. You’ll be delighted and curious when you see the variety of techniques and creativity.

We encourage everyone to join us to support these young, brave creatives. Hope to see you Feb. 2nd, or if you can’t make it to the reception, please stop by the gallery to view the works between Feb 3rd and 19th.

Stretch Your Art Dollars

Each year our Young Voices artists choose two or more local charities to receive donations from the sales of their artwork. In years past, they have donated to the Holter Museum of Art, Mountain Meadow Preschool and Green Arts Montessori School, The Friendship Center and the YWCA. 40% of all sales are given to these non-profits by the kids and the gallery. The rest goes to the kids and to pay the expenses of opening night.

Through your purchases of their art, you boost the young artists’ confidence and contribute much-needed funding to these charities. Watch for more details in our next “love letter” and on our social media posts. If you do not currently receive our email love letters (aka newsletters) and you want to, please subscribe/sign-up here.

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Scenes from the summer Teen Art Adventures (plein aire painting and drawing:) 

 

Scenes from Kid’s Summer Creativity Sesh, Summer of 3d: 
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2017 Small Works Holiday Gift Show

The opening reception of our last exhibit of the year is always a festive party
and a great opportunity to do your holiday shopping — or just get ideas the first night.
Come back anytime before Christmas to check off your gift list.

What are Small Works? Why Shop Small? Why Art?

  • Small works are sometimes small or sometimes just simpler than the artist’s usual work.
  • Small works are affordable.
  • Small works don’t always fit in your pocket but sometimes they do.
  • Small works make very cool gifts for someone you love. Cuz small works are original. Art. Not made in China.
  • Small works are made by your friends, your neighbors, people you know and folks you really need to meet.
  • Buying small works to give as a gift — or for your own self — well that just an admirable thing to do.
  • When you buy handmade original art from a local artist, you are helping someone from our community make a living doing what they love to do.
  • Our gallery is dedicated to making opportunities for artists of all experience levels, so they can thrive and therefore work their magic on all of us.
Consider doing your gift shopping this holiday season at small locally owned businesses that support artists. Can you imagine your city without Art?
Porcelain Cup by Sarah Magar
Loving Birds Chine Colle´collage by Ouida Touchon

Artists featured in our Small Works show include: Tina Albro, John Andrew, Elizabeth Hughes BAss, Lori Blaylock, Tim Carney, Patty Ceglio, Maureen Cole, April Coppini, Gregg Edelen, Nancy Goughnour, Paul Guillemette, Betsey Hurd, Judy Kline, Kris Kramer, Bonnie Lambert, Robin Leenhouts, Sarah Magar, Cristina Simona Marion, Susan Mattson, Dan McArdle, George McCauley, Carol Montgomery, Darla Myers, Page Kelly Piccolo, Poo Putsch, Laurie Shaman, Maureen Shaughnessy, Gabe Shaughnessy, Trudy Skari and Ouida Touchon

 

Just for the Holidays:

Extended Saturday hours: our usual winter gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 11 to 6pm and Saturdays 10 to 5pm. We will be open on Saturdays from November 18th through December 23rd from 10 to 7, for your shopping convenience.

Kids Ornament-Making Sesh:  From 1 to 4pm on December 16th, drop off your kids (ages 6 to 9) at the studio in the back of 1+1=1 Gallery, to make their own creative unusual ornaments. Gives you a little time to do some downtown shopping. Younger kids must have a parent with them.  Donations gladly accepted to pay for supplies. 

Festive Winter Concert by Three Form, jazz trio comprised of Ann Tappan, Rob Kohler and Mj Williams. December 10th. Refreshments and socializing from 7 to 7:30. Music starts at 7:30 til 9pm. Come early to get a seat. Limited seating. Free will donations to pay the musicians are encouraged.

Wood and Wax Exhibit

Thank you to everyone who came out for the Wood & Wax opening reception on October 6th. It was hugely successful and we are grateful for your support of our artists and the gallery.

Featured artists in Wood & Wax are John Andrew (burl bowls and bowls turned of Helena trees) Tim J Carney (contemporary fine furniture) Joyce Watts Coolidge (encaustic sculptures) Dan McArdle (carved wood relief sculptures) and Darla Myers (encaustic paintings)

Wood & Wax runs from October 6 through November 14. If you didn’t make it to the opening, there is still time to see this fabulous exhibit as we have curated it. Stop by anytime during gallery hours Tuesday through Friday 10 to 6 and Saturdays 10 to 5pm. Our opening receptions are always fun, festive and lively — and usually very educational. When the gallery is quiet on other days, visitors often have deeper experiences to the art — for sure it’s easier to step back and see the larger pieces when you are alone or with a much smaller group. Hope to see you downtown at the gallery in the next few weeks.

 

Panel-style Gallery Talk at Wood & Wax opening reception. John Andrew, Darla Myers and Tim J. Carney. All photos ©Eric Seidle Photography.
Photo by Eric Seidle

Thank you to Eric Seidle Photography for taking such great photos at our events. Please visit his website.

Susan Mattson an art activist

Susan Mattson is perhaps the most considerate person I have met. She deeply considers the ways in which various pieces of the world, herself included, influence and impact each other. Through her sculptures, Susan works out unresolved issues; both interior and exterior. While sculpting and carving, she allows her mind wander freely, reminiscing and following the flow of memories, regrets, projections, relationships.

 

Originally from Bozeman, Montana, Susan has traveled the world, taking a solo bike tour across the country at the age of 25. Every experience she has had, every place she has been, is still very alive within her.  The past is carved into her psyche in a powerful way. She is a vessel of lessons.

Susan carries out her intentions through action. She remodeled a house in Butte to rescue it from demolition. She uses the pulp from her fresh juices to bake scones, because, even pulp can be useful. She works in mental health. Every decision Susan makes is preceded by the question, “what would happen if every person on the planet did this?”

She is a steady and humble activist; her art is a demonstration of her deeply held beliefs.  But, she also has a goofy side.  Let’s just say she’s spent a decent amount of time on testing the limits of the face-swapping app.

Driven by curiosity, Susan researches her subjects exhaustively which translates into unparalleled originality in her pieces. For example, her current piece, Nacho Scapegoat, led her on a quest to discover how goats have taken on the burdens of humans throughout history in many, many ways. Susan never just randomly selects a subject, they all have a story behind them, they are thickly layered with meaning.

Susan Mattson

Susan is pretty much the MacGyver of art galleries. She’ll improve mopping methods, solve temperature and lighting issues with nothing but a bed sheet and a clothespin and conquer mounting dilemmas in the craftiest of ways.

Something to keep in mind when experiencing Susan’s work: every face is made separately with tiny ceramic and dental tools, then pressed onto the body of the sculpture. This requires massive focus, determination, and patience; every sculpture takes many, many hours.

So, come.  Plant yourself in front of one of Susan’s sculptures. Let it speak to you. Let it lead you down new path, or remind you of another time. Open up, lean in, listen.

 

Andrea Crossguns

Here is what I know of Andrea Crossguns. She is all heart. She spends her days caring for children and managing an entire staff of teachers; she inspires them, guides them and reminds them of their gifts. She is nurtures chickens, a guinea-pig named “Cutie” and a faithful canine companion named “Joey”.

Andrea prefers to eat one fresh, heavily seasoned fried egg for breakfast with a hot cup of coffee, egg first, coffee later. She is easily moved to tears. She is a brave and brilliant musician, an intense and deliberate poet, an active member of her community. She needs to hike and deeply breathe mountain air often in order to feel most alive.

 

When Andreas paints, she lets her brush lead the way and surrenders her expectations of what will occur. The result is a collection of work that comes from the deep. Vivid colors that overlap and collide in unexpected ways. Pieces that continue to unfold the longer you view them. Each and every painting of Andrea’s includes a poem, hand-written, rolled and attached to the back of the piece, only to be opened and read by the owner.

Right now- there are 13 Andrea Crossguns paintings hanging in 1+1=1 Gallery. Stop in and feel their power. We’ll make you a cup of hot tea (or coffee) while you absorb.

 

Trudy Skari, minimalist at heart

Trudy Skari is one of those rare people you meet who naturally balances the complexities and simplicities of life. A minimalist at heart, she focuses attentively on only a few things at a time in order to truly appreciate all they have to offer.

Embracing her strong Estonian background, Trudy derives rich meaning and imagery from dreams and the landscape around her. Very early on, she learned to tend to her own needs, overcome obstacles, and use what she had at hand to thrive. It was a basic and simple upbringing. Creativity has always played a key role in how Trudy positions herself in the world.

Trudy owned her first book at the age of 5, The Lonely Doll, by Dare Wright. It sparked her fascination with relationships between humans and animals and offered a new way to tell a story. The music of Allan Sherman really developed Trudy’s humor and wit which is still very alive and evident in her sculptures.

From the moment she visited her first clay studio, Trudy was captivated by the immediacy of translating an image in her mind to a physical form in front of her eyes. From there, she fashioned a former ice-house into her own studio/bunker on a farm where art was not valued, settled in behind 18 inch thick concrete walls to carve out time to create.

A champion of resourcefulness, Trudy is known to use clay scraps that most ceramicists would discard. When sculpting, you might find her sipping cold lemonade and listening to Tango music. Trudy doesn’t like to get too hung up on details.  The vision is there, it wants out, she just opens the door and allows her pieces to emerge in a natural way.

Come to the gallery and view Trudy’s incredible sculptures.  They are full of texture and pizazz; just begging to be held, touched, looked in the eye. One of them may even ask to come home with you, you just never know.

 

Gregg Edelen, artist of essence

For Gregg Edelen, pottery is medicine.

A retired sheriff’s deputy from Butte, Montana, Gregg has witnessed some pretty tough scenes. Gregg has used art to actively heal. He finds beauty and solace working with clay. He pursues joy; you can hear it in his chuckle and see it in his smile. From forming wet clay to tending a wood-fired kiln all night long, to driving from Butte to Helena to teach, deliver or create, Gregg takes truly embraces all his creative process has to offer.

 

Gregg fishes, but doesn’t so much care about catching fish. He cares about camaraderie, long-time friendships, laughter by a campfire, the sound of a fish slurping a topwater fly. He hunts but doesn’t care about the harvest. He cares about the absolute love he has for his hunting dogs, their dedication, loyalty and affection. He cares about breathing in the landscape and having the freedom to roam. Gregg is a lover of process, a person of essence. He chooses to create but really feels that, in many ways, the drive to create chose him.

 

 

Woven into Gregg’s platters, cups and vases, are elements of his passions. You’ll find subtle landscapes within the design, flies he has tied for fishing adventures, imprints of tails and fins, glaze patterns that resemble rainbow trout. Gregg surrenders his pieces, at times, to a wood-fired kiln, which requires 18-hour stretches of constant attention and re-loading of wood. It requires loyal dedication and trust between the elements and the artists. When finished, each vessel has been kissed by the heat and is one of a kind.

Gregg is a Montana native, a family man, a teacher, a photographer, a music lover, and insists that any tie-dyed t-shirt he wears be handmade. His favorite drink is a Virgin Mary, he drinks exactly one beer a month (with pizza) but never drinks coffee or eats potatoes. Ever. He loves sunsets over water, visiting forgotten towns and telling corny jokes to kids.

Come in to catch the broad scope of Gregg’s work featured in our current exhibit for just a few more days.

Tari Nelson-Zagar Violin Concert Sept 24

Sound Gallery Presents

Tari Nelson Zagar at 1+1=1

We’re excited to have Seattle violinist, Tari Nelson Zagar, back in her hometown at Sound Gallery this month. If you attended last year’s performance by Tari, you know it was a rare treat and we had a full house.

In this performance Nelson-Zagar brings another evening of sound exploration to the gallery, using found sound, improvisation, and discovering new music conversations hidden in old treasures. You might hear jazz standards, a virtuosic violin concerto, or an old cowboy song. You might want to bring all the bells you own, too!

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Wood & Wax Exhibit Opens October 6

We are thrilled about our upcoming exhibit, Wood & Wax, featuring a handful of talented artists who've dedicated their craft to working with two beautiful and challenging mediums in diverse ways.  They've shaped, molded, painted, carved, sanded and melted in means that promise to surprise and delight.

When: Opening Reception Oct 6. Show runs through Nov 14.

Where: 1+1=1 Gallery, 434 North Last Chance Gulch

What: Casual panel-style gallery talk by the artists from 5:30 to 6p. Wine/appetizer reception 6 to 8p.

Who: anyone interested in fine contemporary art, folks who want to learn more about woodworking and encaustic; adults and children. Everyone is welcome.

So ... Wood and Wax:

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Welcome our Newest Gallery Staff

Introducing Claire Bachofner

 

I was humbled by the many wonderful job applicants for our position at 1+1=1 Gallery.

I was truly humbled by the interest and enthusiasm of the fifteen individuals who were interested in continuing and enlarging upon the service our gallery provides for the community of Helena, Montana. We had two applicants from other cities in Montana, as well as many very qualified applicants from Helena, from all walks of life. It was difficult to narrow down the field, and we are grateful to everyone who applied. Thank you so much for your interest!

After a process I was new to (and with the help of one of our artists, Maureen Cole, who is a retired human resources director for the Forest Service) we chose someone we believe will take 1+1=1 to a new level with Tim and myself. She is an incredible human being: I already know that by spending time with her at the gallery, and hearing nothing but 1000% (not an extra zero there) positive remarks about her from everyone who knows her and has worked with her. I am super excited to have Claire on the gallery team. And I think all of our customers and represented artists will love her.

Claire and her partner, Phil, have two kiddos, ages two and four. She majored in Creative Writing at UM in Missoula and loves to write, practice yoga, spend time outdoors and model one of the best self-care-practices I’ve heard of. She is generous, eloquent, friendly, smart, knowledgeable about art and best of all, enthusiastic about the mission of our art gallery. 

Claire will be helping me stay in better touch with collectors, our roster of artists and potential artists, customers and media. She will be more in charge than I am, of social media (though I’m not going to give it up) and advertising; help plan events and exhibits, make press releases, update our website, write articles on our artists, gallery updates and newsletters and generally do much more communication than I have had time to do over the last almost 4 years. I’m sure I will be calling her our communications-angel very very soon.

What this means for me besides better communications with everyone who cares about our gallery? Omg — it means I will have more time to make my own art in my studio. And maybe more time to teach more workshops and art classes to kids and adults. I am so thankful for that. I can’t wait!

Claire will generally be at the gallery 4 days a week, so please stop by sometime soon and welcome her to the gallery and to the 400 block of Last Chance Gulch.

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Claire Bachofner,  welcome! Thank you for taking a chance with us.