Kay Montgomery

The Bank Left Gallery featured artist for May
is Moscow mixed media artist Kay Montgomery.
The opening reception with the artist is May 3 from 1:00pm - 5:00pm.

During the reception there will be a musical performance
by Palouse musician Paul Smith.

This exhibit runs from May 3rd through the 31st

Drawing and painting, living with nature, enjoying its many facets, from desert heat to drifting snow has been a part of Kay's life from its very beginning. She was born and raised on a cattle and hay ranch in Owyhee County, southwestern Idaho and attended local schools there. After High School she attended Boise University for 1 year before joining the Waves. After being discharded from the service she attended Duke University, North Carolina, Washington State University, and received a BA from the University of Idaho the same year her oldest daughter graduated from high school. She and her husband bought a small farm on the outskirts of Moscow and raised 4 daughters there, not to mention horses, cows, cats and dogs.

Kay is a charter member of the Palouse Watercolor Socius, NW Watercolor Society, and a merit member of the Idaho Watercolor Society. Over the years she has had works in many shows in the northwest and has had workshops from many nationally recognized artists. She also enjoyed several summers with the now defunct "workshop on Wheels" from the UI.

She usually paints in series and is currently involved in several ongoing efforts: Shore series, Earthbones, and Xeriscapes. Each is approached in different manner with a variety of materials and effects. Texture is a very important factor in many of her pieces, as well as color and design. She will use acrylics, inks, dyes, collage and gem stones, as well as pastels and colored pencil. She usually has and idea about the direction a work is to go and uses whatever means are necessary to achieve that end, including happy accidents and mistakes. Some pieces are abstract, others realistic, some are pure water media and others are mixed media and all are meant to be savored and enjoyed.

"My paintings have undergone a variety of changes over the years but almost inevitably I go back to the world around us, the skies, the trees, and flowers, the strength of stone. The greatest influence on my work has been many manifestations of nature itself. I respond to the colors, textures and inderlying essences of living things, in all seasons, in all ways of life. I try to paint the emotion that the ocean evokes, the feeling that a fir tree elicits, the elation that a windy fall day arouses. I paint for myself and to myself and wish only that others feel pleasure in my paintings. I am not a "purist" in my use of paint but use opaques, collage or whatever strikes my fancy and the mood of the moment"

-- Kay Montgomery