Art & Culture

A Brush With Atmosphere: Montana Artist Brent Cotton

Art & Culture | Winter 2012

Brent Cotton’s paintings have won national awards, including “Arts for the Parks top 100” and the CM Russell Museum CEO Award, and hang in prestigious collections. The following interview by Bill Muhlenfeld captures the quest and personality of this man. For more info, see www.cottonfinearts.com.

What piece are you working on right now, and what is your inspiration for it?

We recently returned from an annual family trip to the Selway River in Idaho. This rugged country and beautiful gin clear water inspired the piece I’m currently working on. It depicts two fishermen by a campfire near a deep emerald green pool. With this work, I’m striving to capture the depth and clarity of the water and the solitude that the fishermen are experiencing along that amazing river.

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Montana Art: Knives

Knife Art: The Cutting Edge

Art & Culture | Winter 2012

Looking out of the taxi window, Josh Smith was thinking more about the forthcoming meeting with a sheikh than London’s cityscape. Would there be a royal officer to translate between Arabic and English? Would armed guards be standing nearby? Would the occasion be extremely formal with Arab regalia?

The son of the Emir of the United Arab Emirates turned out to be friendly and informal. He was wearing blue jeans; no one was with him; and since he’d been educated in Florida, he visited with Smith in flawless English.

The sheikh wanted Josh Smith to see and handle a sword in one of London’s museums. The two of them discussed how Smith would make a sword to the sheikh’s specifications. Later when Smith had the sword ready to deliver, the sheikh sent tickets for Smith and his wife to fly to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, to...

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Life on Planet Bronze

Interview with Dennis Harrington

Art & Culture | Fall 2011

Interview with Dennis Harrington Born and raised in Bozeman, Dennis Harrington began his quest to...

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Cutting-Edge Classical: There’s More to Modern Orchestra than Meets the Ear

Art & Culture | Fall 2011

by Jessica Solberg James Westwater has just gotten back from an early morning bike ride near...

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Trailblazing Filmmakers of the Treasure State

Art & Culture | Fall 2011

by Valerie Harms From wannabes to veteran professionals, Montana filmmakers are busy in...

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The Bair Museum's Elegant Expansion