Montana Artworking by Cindy Betka

There is a doe, white tail deer, sleeping in our barn. Why is this so, we do not know. It is peculiar that she finds the very dark corner between the wood pile and tractor so comfortable. If you should get too close she comes leaping out and stops just at the edge of the forest. She looks back from behind a tree waiting for the all clear to return to her sanctuary. There is her quiet place where it is cool and free of nasty, biting flies and bugs. A few times during the day she awakes from her napping to forage around the yard and field. Soon the flies get to her and she trouts back to her calming spot in the barn. Sometime around dusk she is off, down the hill to her overnight meadow. The next day, just after dawn, she returns to her place in our barn.

 Confidence at what I am creating on particular day varies. What makes you have confidence one day where you are singing along and all is going swimmingly. The next day all that confidence seems to be elusive, hiding in a box, on the shelf where you can not find it. You ask yourself, as if looking for that item you think you still have, “now where did I put it”. Usually my confidence is still there the next day if I left the creation with satisfaction and nothing changed with other issues of life. If incidences come up with family members, my health is in malaise, disorganized, or just bored, these are the biggest deterrents to chasing away confidence. If I straighten up , cleanup, and get my ducks in a row the disorganization goes away. The boredom is usually solved by doing something different whether it is a change of scenery by taking a trip or just switching to another hobby. Everyone needs a hobby. Then, coming back to the studio with a different attitude makes confidence...

Switching medium and doing some experimenting on this drawing. It is 22" X 28" on watercolor/etching paper, which I have a stash of laying around. The value chart shows my range of greys is all high key. This white faded building is from the 1860's. I loved the way the reflection of the sky and landscape mixes with the bottles set in the window. The reference is from a photo I took at Bannack (Montana ghost town). For the line work I mixed my own 'ink' and used a fine pen nib. The ink which is really a powered metallic silver water color with a small amount of black ink and water. Some lines I mixed a light blue watercolor for inking. I used color pencil mostly in the windows.