Montana Artworking by Cindy Betka

Sometimes you must do something a little different. Well, I ventured out into making journals. With each one I learned quite a bit. Starting out I wanted to work with leather. I found 'Montana Leather' in Billings Montana. They have some beautiful soft leather in the thin weight I needed. The color is a nice dark brown, but next time I think I will go with a tan or some lighter color. I took a few small oil paintings I had around and made those into covers. Experimenting with some relief or embossing, I used all leather for other covers.  The text pages I hand bound which I think is the hardest part of book making. Later I bought already set text books with lined paper. Making paper from recycling other used paper is fun. That is another learning experience. The inside covers are covered in my handmade paper. Below are my first attempts, most sold right away. The largest one, 8" X 8", oil painting front cover, copper covered in leather back cover and spine.

Here I thought it would be a bit fun to see a comparison of the paintings in their beginning stages and the finals.   'He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just.' Deuteronomy 32:4

We took a short trip up to Great Falls on a stormy day. The spring green colors were intense. Nice contrasts of greens and rusts colors. Here are some photos.

When I begin a painting, it is usually with a concept and composition in mind. I always seem to start each painting in a different way. With these 3 paintings in progress, I began with abstract shapes; narrowing in on the center of interest with the most value contrast. Center of Interest? - Potted Chipmunk; we find that we can grow all kinds of things in containers.

It was a political adviser in the last Bush administration that came up with the term 'Climate Change'. He thought that 'Climate Change' would more palatable to the populous than 'Global Warming'. It seems what ever you call it and the cause, the change is happening. Came the Rain,  16" X 20",  Oil