Pottery and other forms of clay work created by Laura Nichols’ students of Pig Pen Pottery. Photo by Shanzeh Umerani/The Connection
A Great Falls Library conference room is filled with admirers of art and pottery and people converse amongst themselves while looking at the paintings hung up on walls before moving on to see pottery and sculpture presented in a glass case only feet away.
Linda Jones is an artist who has been living in Great Falls for more than 10 years. She works with watercolor, acrylic paint, as well as mixed media to create texture in her artwork.
“I paint everywhere,” Jones said, “I’ve painted in planes, on boats, in the car. Wherever I go I must have small canvases and paints with me.”
Her work ranges in sizes and are landscaped based, painting areas from the Chesapeake Bay to the Alaskan plains. The exhibit presented at Great Falls Library was a total of 40 pieces of art created over a 10-year period.
The pottery presented was created by art students at Pig Pen Pottery, learning under Laura Nichols. The students’ clay creations ranged from sculptures to bowls and plant holders.
“They learned very quickly,” said Nichols, “It’s always nice to see the age range of students. No one is ever too old or too young to learn a form of art.”