With all that’s been going on in the world lately, I’ve needed to paint some happy things, flowers, birds… things that bring me happiness in my little world.

I have so enjoyed watching the songbirds in my yard over the years! Here’s one little guy, captured in a moment’s rest as only a camera or painting can do!

Chick-Chick-Chickadee is an oil painted on an 8x8, 2” deep cradled board, no framing required. Even those with too much art can find a place for this little guy!

This painting will be for sale in my booth at the “Russell Reignited Show” in Great Falls, MT. Aug 18-21

It is also for sale here on my website although I’d like to display it during the show!

#chickadee, #songbird, #montanabirds, #birders, #audibonsociety, #lauriestevens, #lauriestevensart, #montanaart, #wildlifeart

This piece is currently one of my favorites! In combining a more abstract background with a more traditional still life painting, I find it to be more dynamic than some of my more traditional work. I was happy with the experiment! Sunflower Solidarity is 30x30 on a cradled board with a 1 ½” return, so no frame is required.

While I have always loved sunflowers and enjoy painting them, they have new meaning to me now because of the invasion of Ukraine. Sunflowers have been grown there since the mid 1700’s. They fueled that nation’s economy, Ukraine and Russia once supplying 70-80% of the world’s sunflower oil exports. But beyond that, and importantly, the sunflower has always been a symbol of peace to the Ukrainian people.

My heart aches now for the Ukrainian people, for the human suffering and for all their many losses…

A portion of the sale of this piece will be donated to Hope for Ukraine, Inc., which has a score of 91 out of 100 points on Charity Navigator.

#sunflower, #floral, #stilllife, #ukraine, #montanaartist, #hopeforukraine

At least I've managed to do a few fun things with my girls this summer, but I really have been painting! I am madly working on many pieces for the coming Russell Show, and a few other events as well.

Please do join me for the Warrior Taste Fest, which benefits the Warriors & Quiet Waters Foundation. This is a good cause. General admission begins at 6:00 on Friday, August 12^th in the Haines Pavilion, Gallatin County Fairgrounds in Bozeman, MT.

Along with the Taste Fest, 10 artists, myself included, will be doing Quick Finishes of our work, to be auctioned off beginning at 8:00. This should be a fun event!

#warriorsandquietwatersfoundation, #warriortastefest, #bozemanmt, #fineart, #wildlifeart, #oilpainting, #muledeer #lauriestevensart, #montanaart

https://warriorsandquietwaters.org/

I'm pleased to announce that my painting, Monarchs, shown here in the ad,  won the second place award in The Rocky Mountain Regional Juried Exhibition at the Carbon County Arts Guild & Depot Gallery in Red Lodge, MT. The show hangs through June 23, 2022, so drop in to see it if you get to Red Lodge!

If you're so inclined, please cast your vote for the People's Choice Award as well!

#mountainlion #cougar #monarchbutterflies #monarch #wildlifepainting #oilpainting #redlodgemt #montanatourism

It’s been some time since I painted the cowboy / cowgirl genre. I’ve just wandered off in other directions. But in researching here and there, I pulled together some of the pieces for this painting and decided it needed to be painted. This was a fun piece to paint, a happy piece. I intentionally used primary colors. With all that’s been going on in the world these past few years, it’s been a nice to do a nostalgic piece that takes us back to a simpler time.

A Real Cowgirl is an oil, 24 x 28.

#cowgirl #quarterhorse #palamino #whitehorse #magpie

I am please to announce that "Dole of Doves" was chosen by the C.M.Russell Museum to be in "The Russell" Saturday night auction, August 20, 2022!

I painted this painting in response to our dreadfully hot summer and changing weather patterns. Dole is the collective name for a group of doves, but it also means “grief and mourning” in Middle English. My thought here, I suppose, was to call in the doves to help heal this place…­

#landscapepainting  #wildlifepainting  #doves  #cottonwoods  #therussell  #cmrussellmuseum  #montanalandscape

https://cmrussell.org

Greetings! I have just made the transition from my old website  (which I was very happy with but has now been on an out of date platform for at least a year) to my new website on FASO. WHEW! What a lot of work! In that, for the time being anyway I have decided not to move my many years of blog posts over from my old site. Why not begin anew?

The opening image I am posting is not a painting but a picture taken on my place. While it is very wintery today, the signs of spring are in the air. New beginnings.

I intend to do a monthly? newsletter, and do some blogging. It is easy on my site to sign up for those things. I would enjoy your company. Please hit that button. You may always unsubscribe if you chose to do so.

So, hello again. Here's to another good website connection with my friends and patrons. Cheers!

#lauriestevensart  #laurieastevens  #lauriestevensartist  #lauriestevenspainter  #montanaartist #lauriestevensfaso