It was dark when James Clayborn heard the grizzly scuffling around his remote cabin in the Great Bear Wilderness last summer. He didn’t see the bear, but found paw prints and fresh scratches on the outside walls, windows and doors the next morning.
For Clayborn, a local artist, the visit became the muse for his painting, “Bear Sign.” After all, interactions with nature were the whole reason he spent 15 days at the cabin as part of the Artist-Wilderness Connection program.
“It was a very inspirational time for me,” Clayborn said. “I just had a great time.”
Clayborn will put on the featured presentation at the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation’s fourth annual Voices of the Wilderness silent auction on Nov. 5 at Glacier Discovery Square in Columbia Falls.
The event raises money for BMWF programs, such as trail maintenance and weed eradication, and promotes the Artist-Wilderness Connection program, said BMWF Executive Director Paul Travis.
It will include an auction and highlights the work and experiences resulting from an artist’s time spent in the program.
Each year, the Artist-Wilderness Connection program places three local, professional artists in an artist-in-residency position in the wilderness for up to two weeks. The artists typically stay alone in remote cabins on Flathead National Forest land, Travis said, but they can also bunk with Forest Service crews as well.
Every artist’s stay is followed up with a community extension presentation.
Since the BMWF, Flathead National Forest, Hockaday Museum of Art and the Swan Ecosystem Center joined to create the program in 2003, the program has generated an impressive list of local artists: Myni Ferguson, Annick Smith, Janet Sullivan, Karin Connelly, Carol Poppenga, Michael Patterson, Jane Latus Emmert, Bill Knoll, Jane Kleinschmidt, Sally Hickman, Larry Blackwood, Scott Friskics, Jennifer Smith, Rob Akey, Bobby Tilton and Clayborn.
Many of those artists have donated works for the upcoming silent auction, Travis said, as well as other Montana artists, such as Rick Bass and Monte Dolack.
“Most of the artists have gotten so much out of the experience that they are more than happy to donate,” Travis said.
He also noted that the program is expanding to embrace more types of artistry, such as jewelry making, metalworking and creative writing.
For its part, the BMWF helps the artists with the logistics of transporting an entire art studio and up to 15 days’ worth of supplies to the woods. Clayborn noted that some of the cabins have drive-up access, but he wanted to be as remote as possible for his 2009 stay.
The Granite Cabin, located in the Great Bear Wilderness area of the Bob Marshall Complex on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River, was perfect.
“I wanted a wilderness experience and I wanted to be on a larger body of water,” Clayborn said.
An experienced backcountry horseman packed all of his equipment and food up to the cabin, Clayborn said, so all he had to do was hike in and take in his surroundings.
During his stay, Clayborn began several paintings, kept a detailed journal, penned several tunes while playing his guitar and took tons of photos. Creativity was in the air, he said, and the experience continues to influence his work.
“I have always been an outdoor enthusiast, gone on a lot of treks and adventures,” Clayborn said. “The wilderness is pretty important to me.”
His Nov. 5 presentation, titled “Painting a Picture with Music,” will include slides of his art and he will play some of his new music.
Clayborn’s print, “Bear Sign,” will be up for auction, while the rest of his paintings and his journal from the Granite Cabin stay are currently on display at the Hockaday. He has also started larger canvas paintings based on the photos he took, and is beginning a new series on water.
Being able to share his art and his previous experiences at the cabin was too good of an opportunity to pass up, he said.
“I jumped at the chance just to be able to get the Artist-Wilderness Connection more public awareness; it brings awareness to the wilderness,” Clayborn said. “It’s something that I feel I want to support.”
Tickets for Voices of the Wilderness are $12 at the door on Nov. 5. Doors open at 7 p.m. with drinks and dessert provided. Each attendee is eligible for a $15 Bob Squad Membership with the purchase of the event ticket.