Dear readers,

After a dry and relatively warm December and January, winter finally came in February, with a BANG. Multiple snowstorms have rolled through, and the snowplow berms around our driveway are now up to 6 feet high in places...and with ANOTHER blizzard last night, more than a foot of snow awaits plowing off right now! It should be a good year for runoff and trout streams! However, the massive amount of snow on the ground makes it difficult to believe spring will arrive anytime soon... I'm longing for warmth and sunshine.

In this issue:

Newsbytes and calendar
Tidbits
New body of work showing at Western Masters!
Readers Respond

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

Newsbytes / calendar -- WORKSHOPS IN 2014 and 2015 -- I have retitled my workshops to "The Art of Seeing Animals" - a better description of our focus in these events. KALISPELL, MT (Triple D Game Farm) - Sept. 26-29, 2014. There are just 2 slots left in this workshop! Call Triple D at 406-755-9653 to sign up. WIMBERLEY, TX (Creekhaven Inn) - Feb. 2-5, 2015. An intensive experience in the beautiful comfort of Creekhaven Inn in Wimberley. Call Bill Appleman at 800-827-1913 or visit the workshop website. CANYON, TX - Mar 1-30 - Panhandle Plains Invitational: It's an honor to continue to be invited back to this show. This year's theme was "Women in the West", which was a great excuse to portray a female roper in one of my signature white-on-black drawings (see right). GREAT FALLS, MT - March 22 - CM Russell Auction: I'm delighted that my work "Coats of Paint" (see right) will be part of the Russell live auction on Saturday, March 22. In this issue New body of work showing at Western Masters!	Setting the Rope 9x12 white charcoal on black paper This drawing will be sold at the Panhandle Plains Invitational. I've been auctioning white-on-black drawings like this on Facebook for the last several months; these drawings are often preliminary studies for scratchboards, but they are also finished works in their own right. Coats of Paint 24 x 36 oil on stretched canvas This painting will be auctioned at the CM Russell event on March 22. For more information, please visit the Russell event page.

Tidbits - on satisfaction "Art is there for nourishment, not explication." - Darby Bannard "Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory." - Mahatma Gandhi "Do it right or don't do it at all. That comes from my mom. If there's something I want to do, I'm one of those people that won't be satisfied until I get it done." - Ray Charles. [Ed: I recall my mom saying something similar...] "I am easily satisfied with the very best." - Winston Churchill

New body of work showing at Western Masters March 19-22 - Great Falls, Montana I've been cloistered industriously in my studio creating a new body of work to show at Western Masters later this month. I'll have about a half-dozen each of scratchboards and paintings at the show, and would like to share a few of them with you here. I'm damn pleased with these new pieces!
"Badass #2", 16 x 20 scratchboard Who can resist the arrogant attitude of bull elk in the rut? They're pretty sure they're God's gift to everything female then. This bad boy is a Yellowstone bull who had rounded up quite a sizable harem when we saw him hanging out in the Mammoth area of the park - we even watched him attack a ranger vehicle! Obviously, the title of the piece was well-earned.
"Bullish", 16 x 20 scratchboard Clearly, big boys in the rut have a certain artistic appeal. This handsome moose was hanging out with a companion of much smaller antlerage near the Gros Ventre River last autumn, outside Jackson Hole...and I got lucky with the light early that morning. Obviously, these two scratchboards would be an excellent pairing!
"Tenderness", 24 x 18 scratchboard Wolves are devoted to the puppies in the pack, and I wanted to capture this tender moment between the alpha male and a fuzzy, wobbly 4-week-old pup. The loveliness of this gesture demanded a sizable board; the graceful curve made by the two wolves were part of the artistic appeal for me.
"American Original: Renegade", 35 x 28 oil on gallery-wrapped canvas Many of you know that horses were my first love, artistically, and no show of mine would be complete without a horse painting. This big bald-faced part-draft bronc, charging around with abandon after dumping his rider, was sheer delight to paint. He's been holding pride of place on my mantel for a few months, and he commands attention when anyone enters the room.
*All pieces available in my room (Room 183) at Western Masters, March 19-22, Great Falls* In addition to the selected pieces I've shared here and other new scratchboards and paintings, I'll have a number of sweet little 5x7 oils matted and ready to frame. They're extremely affordably priced (less than $250). I will also be doing a conservation raffle to benefit The Nature Conservancy of Montana! Your $5 ticket will give you a chance to win a matted and framed 5x7 oil, a value of more than $350. Stop by Room 183 at the Best Western Heritage Inn and enter early and often!

READERS RESPOND - footnotes to the February Artzine: "I don't use this word often, but your Cougar is breathtaking!! And I love the minis of the horses. Sargent and Munnings in one set of paintings." -- Now THAT is a helluva compliment - thank you, Janis W.! I'm pleased to report that the small horse diptych sold at the Settlers West show. "Wow Julie! The time lapse piece was amazing to see the progression. The piece itself is very powerful. GOOD JOB!!" -- Thank you, Elaine T. (and see you in Great Falls!) "I appreciated seeing the scratchboard time lapse sequence. Wow. That glove would be a brace if I were attempting even one square inch of such an undertaking! The patience you possess is astounding. ...To scratch, literally, every hair on the animal's hide so that it comes to life before my eyes! I am in awe." -- Kathleen M., what a wonderful note! (Kathleen is a writer, natch).

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