BY KAREN BOSSICK

Marty Lyon likes to think that his painting of Idaho’s famed Silver Creek offers a different perspective from most photographs and paintings of the clear mountain spring that attracts fishermen from around the world.

He painted it from a photograph he took on a cold dreary late October day just before winter’s first snow. And he painted it using dark cold blues as 90 visitors stopped by to watch him at work during the Artist Studio Tour of the Wood River Valley.

“My wife said, ‘What are we going to do on such a nasty day?’ and I said, ‘Let’s go to Silver Creek and take a walk.’ We love kayaking and floating down the creek—we always see deer, fishermen and last time we saw a moose,” he said.

Lyon’s painting will be on display from Sept. 13-28 at the Sun Valley Museum of Art, 191 5th St. E., in Ketchum as part of a new exhibit called “Idaho Rivers/Idaho Artists.”

The exhibition will kick off with an opening celebration at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13, at which many of the artists will be in attendance. Refreshments will be served.

The juried exhibition pays homage to Idaho’s rivers, which run more than 100,000 miles through the Gem State, shaping landscapes, lives and culture.

Curator Courtney Gilbert said the idea resonated with artists throughout the state, as the SVMoA received more than 110 submissions. The theme emerged from conversations with Kika MacFarlane and Tala Schlossberg of the design animation studio Two Toes Creative, who recounted how they were going to take a group down the Salmon River, making art along the way and painting a kayak together as a group.

The results, including the kayak, will be included in the exhibition.

Gilbert and Jennifer Wells Green, the museum’s executive director, invited Katie Lee-Koven, executive director for the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum at Utah State University, to select 33 pieces of art that comprise a range of media and styles reflecting riverscapes as sites of leisure, labor, contemplation and community.

“We thought she’d be an ideal juror, particularly given her deep knowledge of the West and its landscapes,” Gilbert said.

Bellevue artist Anne Jeffery created a photo montage for the exhibit called “Cascades,” using scenes she’s photographed of Stanley Lake Creek, Redfish Lake Creek, the Snake River and Big Wood River.

“It is always great when hiking to come upon small streams cooling the air around them--each with a different blend of blues, greens, rocks and vegetation,” she said. “I also relish the opportunity to be lulled to sleep by the sound of a nearby river or stream. Water has a calming effect on people--it’s nice because it has movement and sound. And I like seeing small streams because they’re all so different.”

Hailey artist Bex Wilkinson says that, as an expressionistic painter, she always turns to her inner world to paint about the complexities of life. When she feels the need to take refuge from such issues, she turns to nature.

“One of my favorite things to do is to sit by a river in our great outdoors and paint,” she said. “It calms my senses and brings me back to a place of peace.”

Sun Valley artist Frances Ashforth became aware of the path water follows at an early age as she paddled her family canoe along a coastal Connecticut river. After college she became a whitewater canoe guide on remote rivers in Northern Maine where she studied maps and watersheds and the path rivers took to the ocean.

“I’ve always been fascinated by maps, topography, geology and the lay of the land. Water and rock have a connective relationship, together they create various landscapes that are both harsh and serene, landscapes that we find unforgettable,” she said.

Coming west she studied rivers in the Great Basin knowing that they would be absorbed into the West’s arid landscape rather than find a path to the ocean. She then followed the Big Wood River from its headwaters near Galena down to the Malad River and into the Snake.

“Starting as a high alpine freestone stream being fed by numerous small creeks, The Big Wood makes its way 137 miles south eventually into the Malad, a completely different landscape from the high alpine,” she said. “I became increasingly fascinated by the lava flows at the south end of the Big Wood and how underground lava tubes that carry water play a huge role in the watershed as well. Water that flows beneath our view ends up pouring out of the high walls along the Snake to form remarkable waterfalls,” she said. 

“My piece ‘The River Beneath 2’ is a memory of that remarkable landscape and the idea that the solid flow of lava on the surface might very well mimic the flow of water beneath, water that we cannot see. Water and rock truly do have a remarkable relationship.”

Mackay artist Devin Farrand created a work based on a photograph he took while standing in the East Fork of the Big Lost River in late September.

“Standing in the pushing current of a river, whether to fish or to swim, is a treasured moment for finding inspiration and for reflection,” he said. “When I look upstream, I watch the whitewater cascade over rocks, while downstream, the sunlight dances on the rippling surface, transforming the water into shimmering gold. That image lingers in my mind.”

Since photographs rarely capture the essence of the actual moment, he tries to evoke the feeling of being immersed in a place at a particular time by translating the image to a different material.

“By sandblasting my image of the river into steel and yellow zinc plating it, I’ve created something between a hologram and an old tintype,” he said. “The yellow zinc has an iridescent quality that changes as you walk around the piece and as you move closer. The sandblasted image appears and disappears almost like a mirage and transports me back in time.”

Marty Lyon can understand the feelings of his fellow artists about Idaho’s rivers and streams. Just this week he and his wife hiked for several miles along the Harriman Trail, during which they sat by the Big Wood River while they nibbled on a snack.

“As I stared at the river, I realize it was giving life,” he said. “The Big Wood River gives life to fish and other aquatic animals, other tributaries and farm lands, and it provides cooling for humans and animals, even drinking water, again for humans and animals. It also provides for recreation; rafting, floating, fishing and splashing around. It's a big deal.”

Bex Wilkinson applauds The Museum for displaying the work of artists living in Idaho.

“Some of them are local, some of them are world renowned. The museum is honoring the artists of this state by letting us participate in something we love--the exquisite nature of our beautiful rivers, along with giving us a place to hang our wares. I am excited and honored to be among the many artists of this juried show, and I cannot wait to see the work of others around this beautiful state.”

The Sun Valley Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free.

COMING UP:

Kika MacFarlane and Tala Schlossberg of Two Toes Creative will discuss the artwork they and others created on the Salmon River at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sep. 12 at the Sun Valley Museum of Art in Ketchum.

They also will discuss their creative process and work for clients ranging from The New York Times to Patagonia and their Idea Camps designed to allow makers to build creative community during outdoor retreats.

Admission is free but pre-registration is required at https://ci.ovationtix.com/159/production/1210330.