This issue’s artist is Bonnie Holmes. She is a native Californian and spends half her time in Montana. She has lived in Ennis, MT for about 30 years with a cabin in Lincoln, MT as well.
Bonnie has been drawing and painting since she was three to five years old. Her parents always encouraged her artistic talent. Art became her primary pursuit throughout school, winning several scholarships to attend Otis Art Institute and then Chouinard Art School in Los Angeles.
Up until the early 1990s, her focus was figurative work with the occasional still life. Everything changed when she married Tom, who introduced her to fly fishing. “Having been a city girl, I was overwhelmed with the beauty surrounding me in the great outdoors,” explained Bonnie. “I’d notice all the trees, shrubs, birds, pastures, and mountains. And I just thought this is what I want to do. It was just a complete epiphany.”
Bonnie was a watercolorist for many years until about 1990. After that, she turned to the more flexible oils. “I like to paint with a painting knife,” explained Bonnie. “I’ll get a slow-drying titanium dioxide and I will keep a painting in progress for days.”
“Tom passed away in 2015. Towards the end, we would spend all our time fishing the Missouri. I would go paint in the mornings alongside the frontage road from Craig up to Cascade and then join up with Tom and the guide for lunch.”
After Tom passed, she connected with Paul who lost his second wife of 10 years. They stayed together until Paul passed away in 2020. “My art has given me the purpose and the will to live. When you grieve so much, you don’t know how you’re going to make it through the day. So I feel blessed that I can express myself in paint.”
Stop by Latigo and Lace to see several of Bonnie Holmes’ works as well as the works of many other fine artists. While you are there, have some of the best coffee in town and let them know you found them in The Great Falls Gazette.
Author: Karen Anderson
Karen is the Editor-in-Chief overseeing all news operations at Foxys Publishing Co. She also loves photography and spending time with her dogs.
