Bigfork artist wins two people's choice awards

It’s the eyes that give the portrait, “Dancing Shadows” its depth. They are the eyes of a girl, but take on the light of someone with an old soul. Serious and unquestioning, it’s almost as if they see through the viewer.

Perhaps the eyes are what earned Darlene Morgan’s India ink wash portrait of a young Native American girl two People’s Choice awards in the last year. Or Maybe it’s the attention to detail or the shadows of hair framing the girl’s face that nabbed her the people’s choice prize first at the Hockaday Museum of Art in Kalispell’s annual members salon last December and and then at the Bigfork Art and History Museum’s annual members show in June.

The eyes are what Morgan said gives a portrait its life.

“I enjoy capturing the look, whether it’s an old old person, or a young fresh face,” Morgan said. “It just draws me to capture that personality, the essence of that face.”

Morgan calls the portrait “Dancing Shadows” because it has so many shadows in it. Incidentally shadows and light are Morgan’s favorite thing to paint. They are part of the majority of her portraits.

Morgan said the gradations of light and dark are a tough thing to capture in black and white because she has to find the perfect shade of grey to cast them in. And finding those shades using India ink wash is especially hard.

“It’s a very very difficult medium because you can’t make a mistake,” Morgan said. “ You have to get it right the first time.”

You can’t make a mistake because every stroke is permanent and you can’t paint over a mistake either. It takes a long time for Morgan to paint a portrait because it’s not something that can be rushed. If she goes too quickly, she could ruin hours of work.

But for all the things that make it such a hard medium to work in, India ink wash is the medium she prefers. Her mother, Merle Fish Olson, introduced the medium to Morgan when she was a teenager. Olson was an artist herself and did landscape oils and portraits in bronze.

Olson passed away in 1999 leaving her body of work with Morgan. Morgan is in the process of going through her mother’s work in preparation for an upcoming art show at Dixie College’s Sears Museum Gallery in St. George, Utah. “It’s all Relative; Olson, Morgan, and Challis” will feature Morgan’s work and her mother’s work alongside that of Morgan’s cousin Brian Challis.

Challis is a sculptor whose work spans bronze, wood and clay. He was commissioned by the Utah Jazz to create sculptures of John Stockton and Karl Malone for the Delta Center (now Energy Solutions Arena). The family show runs from Aug. 31 through Nov. 9 with an artist reception from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Aug. 31.

The last time Morgan’s work accompanied that of her mother’s was in a 2005 Hockaday Museum show called “Two Generations.” Morgan said it’s hard to pick and choose the pieces she thinks her mother would have chosen to show.

“She was an inspiration to me, she was a hard worker, and let me tell you, she was prolific,” Morgan said. “I like to keep her art out there for people to see and appreciate because she was too good to be forgotten.”