September 28, 2021
Fall is a beautiful time of year in Northwest Montana. The days are still warm and nights dip down near freezing. We’re enjoying splendid fall colors this year. Case in point, this Flame Amur Maple we planted in front of our home nearly 20 years ago. Where did the time go?
The aspens in the foreground were planted the very same day as I recall. Sometimes a painter simply has to cultivate his very own inspiration!
Let’s keep in touch,
Marshall
September 20, 2120
I wanted to show you a recent painting by our daughter Sarsten. “Pony Run” has an interesting visual pedigree. If you’re an art history buff you may recognize that the horses were inspired by the groundbreaking photographs by Eadweard Muybridge.
And if you screw up your eyes and use your imagination you may see remnants of one of my landscape paintings drifting through the horse imagery. I don’t give up on any of my paintings easily, continuing to work on them until they reach a point of resolution for me. But in this case I was happy to offer up one of my less than successful works for Sarsten to paint on top of!
Marshall
September 14, 2021
I recently picked up a copy of the new book, Landscape Painting Now and I’m enjoying it a great deal. Especially the landscape paintings of my heroes Wayne Thiebaud, Eric Katz, and David Hockney.
The extensive compendium features 400 illustrations of recent paintings by 80 artists. An extensive essay by Barry Schwabsky, art critic for The Nation, adds interesting historic references.
The book is an ambitious survey which takes a global view of the subject and makes a case for the unprecedented viability of, well, landscape painting now!
Marshall
September 7, 2021
When I moved to Montana in 1968 I was excited to be moving close to The Big Mountain. I thought Montana was all about skiing! I had no idea how important Glacier National Park and Flathead Lake would become to my then young life. When I did “discover” Glacier, I immediately made the decision to hike every mile of every trail in the park. It remains a goal I have yet to accomplish even though I do, from time to time, after 54 years living in the shadow of the park, still make tracks on previously untravelled ground.
Last Saturday we took a drive on The Going To The Sun Road. It was like visiting life long friends as we passed familiar vistas and rivers and ridge tops that I know like the back of my hand. Here’s one many of you will recognize.
Thanks to my friend Steve Potter for the fly rod caught sockeye we dined on while enjoying this iconic view!
Let’s keep in touch,
Marshall
August 31, 2021
There comes a time when I must make a clean break and a fresh start. About once a year I toss the piece of glass that functions as my palette and begin again. It’s rather cathartic. I always enjoy laying out new colors on an unsullied surface.
Out with the old. In with the new!
Marshall
August 24, 2021
I recently had the pleasure of visiting Limnal Lacrimosa, Kalispell’s new free public art installation. Rainwater falls melodiously into salt fired lachrymatory vessels inside the old Kalispell Malting and Brewing Company building. It’s an amazing multi-sensory experience and I’m already looking forward to the next time!
You can schedule an appointment to visit the installation here. Enjoy!
Let’s keep in touch,
Marshall
“Limnal Lacrimosa celebrates the richness of the valley, from the glaciers and lakes to the cultural histories of art and ceramics. Sited in the original home of the Kalispell Malting and Brewing Company, it also celebrates the important legacies of breweries in Kalispell.
To build the exhibition, American artist Mary Mattingly has been collecting snow melt and rainwater, some that has dripped through holes in the building’s roof. Cycling water through tubing just below the ceiling, she can evoke the feeling of rain inside the building to create a meditative space. The drips are caught in lachrymatory vessels while the sounds of the droplets hitting the containers echo throughout the space. Eventually the vessels fill, water spills onto the floor and the cycle repeats itself.”
August 17, 2021
The very literal title of this new painting, “28 on 145,” may well seem ambiguous, or at least a bit curious. And I will confess that titling a work can be somewhat challenging for me. I think that can be the case for many painters. My longtime friend, and fellow artist, Phyllis Kapp, keeps an anthology of song lyrics close at hand to inspire her romantic titles!
“28 on 145” is simply 28 aspen trees along Colorado Highway 145, south of Telluride. Not especially poetic, but highly descriptive!
“Should have tried to do some more,
25 or 6 to 4”
~ Robert Lamm
Let’s keep in touch,
Marshall Noice
August 12, 2021
We had an exhilarating and, I’m happy to announce, victorious three days of sailing this past weekend.
Thirty three boats came to race in the 44th Annual Montana Cup Regatta on beautiful Flathead Lake. We had conditions that challenged even the most race hardened sailors. Gusts over 40 miles per hour, swells four feet in height, seemingly endless changes in wind direction, and cold rain that just would not quit, made for races that, truly, only the strong survived. I’m so proud to say my intrepid crew was equal to the daunting task! When all the fun ended on Sunday afternoon our boat Valkyrie was the winner! The victory made sweeter because of the boat handling and tactical challenges we’d faced.
Here’s to all our competitors! Without you it would have just been another sailboat ride!
Marshall
August 4, 2021
Sometimes, it seems to me, that painting a better picture is about asking a better question. In this case I was attracted to a young stand of aspen against a sunny hillside.
And the very simple question is, what would the landscape look like if those greenish tree trunks were red?
Marshall
July 27, 2021
Three kids, Nicholas, Christina, and Sarsten, two kayaks and one paddle board, two dogs, Sula and Sam, equal one fun filled adventure on Flathead Lake. When you live near the shores of the largest fresh water lake in the west AND when it is the cleanest body of water of that size on the planet, the gravitational pull can be irresistible.
Especially when the temperatures are in the 90s!
Marshall
