Dear readers,

It's nearly summer in Montana, which means rain, wildflowers, and still needing to fire up the woodstove every couple days to take the chill off the house. (A year's worth of wood for us is about 7 cords).

Late-breaking awesomeness: some of you have already seen this, but I have to share it with everyone. The Wall Street International had a nice writeup on the David Shepherd exhibition in London, and the article featured my tiger scratchboard "Burning Bright" as the lead image!! Probably the first time my artwork has been used in an international publication!

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

Newsbytes / calendar My website now has a new "Events" page, collecting together all these calendar items along with the artwork at each event. LONDON, ENGLAND - 3rd-8th June: A tiger scratchboard of mine is part of the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year Exhibition at The Mall Galleries. (See "late-breaking awesomeness" in the header above!). WHITEFISH, MT - June 30: I'll be at the Whitefish Summer social again this year. My silent auction piece is shown below. CALGARY, ALBERTA - July 12: Two works of mine will be auctioned at the Calgary Stampede. Both can be seen on my Events web page, and I'll share them in the July Artzine as well. CHEYENNE, WY - July 18-31: I'll have work at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Art Show again this year, and I plan 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 Why Find Me on Facebook? Hot Off the Easel	Testosterone #2 30 x 24 - oil on gallery-wrap canvas Newly available at Mountain Trails Gallery
"Whitefish Morning" 21 x 34 Will be auctioned at the Whitefish Summer Social on June 30 Those from my artist workshop who did the horse shoot with me last September will remember this gorgeous autumn morning, with a colorful herd of Bar W Ranch horses rimlit by the rising sun....
Tidbits - on skill "If you are not skillful enough to sketch a man jumping out of a window in the time it takes him to fall from the fourth storey to the ground, you will never be able to produce great works." (Eugene Delacroix) --- Ed: now there's a high bar! "Rarely is competent work done without years of preparation and hard won skill - unless you are painting in mid-20th century to early 21st century style when quality is considered an embarrassment. I do believe an MFA student ... referred to it as de-skilling." (Sharon Knettell) "All the ills of mankind, all the tragic misfortunes that fill the history books, all the political blunders, all the failures of the great leaders have arisen merely from a lack of skill at dancing." (Moliere) --- Ed: wow! it's so simple!...maybe I should learn to dance. "If skill could be gained by watching, every dog would become a butcher." (Turkish proverb)
Why find me on Facebook? A number of you are already Facebook friends with me (and thank you!). If you are not, however, you're missing out on some fun stuff! I have been posting sketches, drawings, and 6x6 palette-knife paintings every Wednesday for auction - a great way to get affordable little Chapman originals. (Think unique and wonderful gifts!) Whenever I get a fresh batch of print samples in, I'm also posting those for sale on a daily basis; I have a new set that I'm working through right now. (It's the only place you can get prints signed by me.) So come join me in the fun on Facebook, and send me a friend request!	Black Bear ...a 6x6 palette-knife painting recently sold on Facebook...
Hot Off the Easel
"Tough Enough to Wear Pink" I've been reading a book on talent (which I'll discuss in a future Artzine), and one of its key tenets is that exceptional performance in any field requires deliberate practice and a willingness to work outside of one's comfort zone, among other things. With the idea for this painting came the desire to shake up my palette a bit. I opened up my California Impressionists book and chose a gorgeous piece by Franz Bischoff (1864-1929) titled "Gold-Rimmed Rocks and Sea" as the inspiration for my color choices in this work. (Google "Franz Bischoff paintings" and choose the "images" link to see other examples of this superb artist's work). The main stimulus for this piece came from the fabulous cool tones on the splashy pinto horse, and the juicy hot colors on the pink shirt. I played off of those with various greens in the abstract background, and I'm mighty pleased with the result.	"Tough Enough to Wear Pink" 20 x 16 - oil on cradled canvas panel
READERS RESPOND - footnote to the May Artzine: Those with better memories than I may recall my essay in the May issue on "It looks like a photo!" and how this isn't a compliment. There were a number of thoughtful and interesting responses: "It's such a bloody insulting comment!" - Simon G. "Stunner of a tail [referring to "Adagio"], I feel like I can reach out and stroke the hairs on it... You do not get that feeling when you are looking at a photograph!" -- Kathleen M. "I've got a new compliment for you!: your work looks like sculpture on paper" -- Mary L. (nice! thank you, Mary!) ...and an artist in New Zealand used my essay in her national pastel-art newsletter (cool!). I suspect most people who react to a piece with "it looks like a photo!" are trying to compliment the drawing skills of the artist. If so, then good comments to make are ones like "Your drawing is well observed!" or "Your subject is beautifully rendered!". And thank you to the many readers who responded so enthusiastically about "Adagio", the cougar scratchboard in the May issue!

That's it for June. 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