Featured Artist
Bonnie Zahn Griffith
Bonnie Zahn Griffith, "January Shadows"
I am a landscape artist who mostly works in the media of pastel. This rich pigment medium allows me to create paintings that have the brilliance and the bold color we see in the landscapes of the in the western United States.
Pastels let me present this world with rich color and texture. Basically self-taught, I experimented with a variety of mediums over time. I came to realize that my best representation of the statement I wanted to make was with pastels. They allow me to bring depth and texture, light and mood into a painting. My goal is to create paintings that draw the viewer in; to experience the time of day, the temperature, the sound, the smells.
As a kid growing up near the Missouri Breaks in central Montana, there wasn’t much to do in the evenings but read and draw. I did both, getting into my mother’s paints and paper; and create I did. My life as a kid was riding horses, drawing and painting, reading and all the stuff including chores a kid growing up on a good sized ranch does. I don’t remember ever being “bored” because there was always something that interested me in one of these areas! Pretty much all of that stuck with me and I chose to continue with my art and experiment with different mediums, finally, nearly exclusively settling on pastels as the medium of choice.
Bonnie Zahn Griffith, "Looking Back"
My love of the landscape prompts me to paint it. I look for a story to tell when I look at the sagebrush hills, the lush river lands, the wheat fields, the intense greens of spring in rich mountain valleys and the ever changing colors of the desert. Pastels allow me to tell that story with great color and intensity.
College years were spent in Chicago and after working there for a few years post graduation I decided I was missing the west, and moved back to Montana in 1975. I worked and lived in Lewistown and Billings until employment moved me to southeastern WA where I live now. There is definitely a draw to Montana and I try to spend a few weeks there each year.
Bonnie Zahn Griffith, "Rails and Shadows"
Bonnie Zahn Griffith
Landscape Pastelist
938 Mountain Park Drive
Walla Walla, WA 99362
bzgriff@charter.net
bonniegriffith.wordpress.com
