Dear readers,

A warm Montana welcome to all of you whom I met at SEWE and who are receiving the Artzine for the first time!

Usually, I think of winter as being a quiet period of quality studio time. However, this year is already picking up pace very quickly - read on for a BUSY calendar and a number of new images!

* Does this email look wonky? See the issue online.

Newsbytes / calendar

  • CANYON, TX - Mar 2-31: Panhandle Plains Invitational has a brand-new scratchboard of mine in the show (see right). The sale takes place March 2 (tomorrow!!); FMI: Panhandle Plains.

  • GREAT FALLS, MT - Mar 13-16: Find me in the Western Masters show (Room 183 at the Best Western) as part of the C.M. Russell week, with new paintings and scratchboards. I also have new work in the Russell auction - read on for a sneak preview of it all.

  • BOLIVAR, MO - Mar 17-Apr 14: A scratchboard of mine, "Badass" (see right) will be showing at the Ella Carothers Dunnegan Gallery of Art as part of the "America's Parks Through the Beauty of Art" exhibition. The piece will go on tour after that. FMI: America's Parks.

  • WHITEFISH, MT - June 30: I'll be at the Whitefish Summer social again this year.

  • CALGARY, ALBERTA - July 12: Two works of mine will be auctioned at the Calgary Stampede.

  • CHEYENNE, WY - July 18-31: I'll have work at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Art Show again this year, and I hope to attend the opening.

  • JACKSON, WY - Sept 12-13: I'm honored to be part of the Western Visions show and sale at the National Museum of Wildlife Art.

In this issue

  • Report from SEWE

  • Preview of work at Western Masters and the Russell


"Full Bore"
11 x 14 - scratchboard
At the Panhandle Plains Invitational
...I had tremendous fun with this composition!


"Badass"
14 x 18 - scratchboard
On tour with "America's Parks Through the Beauty of Art"
Scratchboard is a terrific medium for the textures of bison, and having the National Bison Range in my backyard means I have a wealth of reference!

Tidbits - on audience (for my supporters and collectors!)

"You make an open-ended proposition and the audience completes it somehow. That's what you hope an artwork to be - a constantly living thing". (Cornelia Parker)

"What makes people the world over stand in line for Van Gogh is not that they will see beautiful pictures [but] that in an indefinable way they will come away feeling better human beings. And that is exactly what Van Gogh hoped for." (John Russell)

"That a viewer does not see what the artist intended does not make the composition a failure... In reality all artists speak first to themselves and then to an audience." (Mike Svob)

"Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening." (Dorothy Sarnoff)

Report from SEWE

This was my first time showing at the Southeastern Wildlife Expo, AND my first visit to Charleston, South Carolina. It was a wonderful trip!

Not only did I sell several scratchboards (the cougar piece that you all voted as #1 for 2012 was the first thing sold), I met a number of new collectors and thoroughly enjoyed demonstrating scratchboard to all comers. I also tried to overdose on oysters (ah, the FOOD! it was great! especially that seafood we don't get much of in Montana), and got a bad case of spring fever from the mild weather. It helps that I shared a house on the beach with a riotous group of artists (Amy Poor, Dustin van Wechel, Ray Brown, Mark Kelso, and Chad Poppleton).

And I can vouch for southern hospitality as genuine, y'all. I'm already planning for 2014!


Part of my display at SEWE...
...the crowds were heavy for almost all of the 3 days of the show.

Sneak Preview - Western Masters and the CM Russell Auction

As noted in the February Artzine, I have been cloistered in my studio working feverishly on paintings and scratchboards for SEWE and now for Western Masters. (My apologies to my galleries for my single-minded focus!).

The body of work that has resulted is deeply satisfying, and I'm delighted to share some of it with you below. If you will be attending the Russell week events in Great Falls, please look me up in Room 183 at the Best Western Heritage Inn - I'll be there from Wednesday, March 13 through Saturday, March 16.

Not only will I have a number of new scratchboards in my room, I have a painting in the Western Masters Off the Wall auction, and two paintings (whoohoo!) in the Russell auction.

FMI on the Russell events: cmrussell.org/the-russell.
FMI on the Western Masters events: www.westernmastersartshow.com


"Wild Eyes"
9 x 12 - scratchboard
Room 183 - Western Masters Art Show
Timber wolf


"Too Sexy"
16 x 12 - scratchboard
Room 183 - Western Masters Art Show
This bad boy's harem-master posture in late afternoon light was just the thing for a scratchboard.


"How the West was Won"
36 x 28 - oil
Will be auctioned at the CM Russell
...and the alert reader will observe how my scratchboard work is influencing my paintings. I will have several major new paintings in my Western Masters room as well.

"Redheads"
15 x 30 - oil
Will be auctioned at the Off the Wall event

FOOTNOTE to the February Artzine:

"I have been receiving your Artzines monthly since I took your Triple D workshop in August, 2005. Just thinking about that little time warp blows my mind. There are a few observations I have made that I would like to share with you. First of all, BRAVO for producing these interesting newsletters promptly every month for all these years! That is 89 Artzines and you have never been late. Such discipline is inspiring, to say nothing of the nimble ways in which you have branched out in your offerings since we first met. I must say that I truly enjoy reading your thoughts and seeing your latest creations. We all look for inspiration wherever we can find it." -- Debra T.

Debra, thank you for this LOVELY message - I'm proud to share it with other readers.

That's it for March. I hope you have enjoyed this newsletter (and thank you to the many readers who respond after each Artzine, thus giving me good material for the "Footnotes" section :-) - if so, I encourage you to share it with anyone and everyone. I appreciate your help in building a bigger audience for my work!

Warmest regards,
Julie T. Chapman

Painting Today’s Wild West (and Africa!) with Contemporary Flair
(406) 546-2636
20900 Whitetail Ridge Road * Huson, MT 59846
Artsite: www.JulieTChapman.com
Find me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/JulieTChapmanArtist

** All images and text in this newsletter are copyright (c) 2013 Julie T. Chapman. I encourage you to forward this email as long as it includes this copyright notice - thank you!**