Distinctly Montana Magazine

w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m 29 but the painting before me. This is rare and wonderful, and I find myself marveling at how the finished artwork seems to have created itself. Years ago, I took a lesson from well-known Amer- ican artist Scott Burdick on how to use Photoshop to compose a painting. Once I have a concept for a painting, I will often begin by laying out the basic com- position on the computer, playing with colors, values, borders, backgrounds, and focus. I fully realize that this is a non-traditional way of beginning a painting (most artists will lay out their painting by creating thumbnails and sketching), but we live in the age of technology, and I be- lieve that we should use whatever tools we have available to us. When I am able to hold classes in my studio once again I will be offering a workshop for artists on how to use Photo- shop to compose a painting. YOU'VE CREATED PAINTINGS THAT YOU CALL "PETROGLYPHS" THAT WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR MORE ABOUT. WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR "PETROGLYPHS?" I have long been fascinated by texture—from the silky feel of an ethereal piece of fabric to rough and sharp edges of tree bark or granite. When we remodeled our home, I created many walls with a stony rough texture and played with the illusion of depth and shadow through the application of paint on those walls. This eventually led to my concept of creating the illusion of rock on a three-di- mensional base of a stone-like foundation, then painting on that to give the appearance of fresco. The Petroglyphs are large works of art that look like huge 3" deep chunks of stone that have been painted on but are actually light enough to hang on a wall. My largest is Red Bird. Red Bird (Leroy Whiteman) is a member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe of Montana. Leroy honored us a few years ago by modeling for our artist's group. After painting his portrait from life, I was inspired to use him in my first Petroglyph. He is depicted wearing his great-grandfather's war bonnet and carrying a rifle given to his great-grandfather by one of General George Armstrong McKENNA GALLERY 37 HITCHING POST ROAD BOZEMAN, MT 59715 SUMMER HOURS: McKenna Gardens, McKenna Gallery and The CatHouse Canopy Walk May - September 9:00 to 4:00 Every Day (406) 595-8830 WEBSITE: deborahmckennaart.com EMAIL: pumpmck@aol.com Red Bird FairyWren

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