Art Chowder January | February, Issue 25 | Page 23

 L. Bjorneby: My first college-level art class was watercolor,
taken at Flathead Valley Community College from Karen Leigh. 
She’s renowned around Kalispell both for her art and for her
students’ joy.  She taught us to see interest and beauty in the
everyday things, which was important for students who could
be in Glacier National Park in an hour and might have been
focusing on the spectacular all the time. 
At Pacific Lutheran University I majored in biology but was
still very interested in art. I took drawing from a team of three
teachers: 1) Walt Tomsic was into abstract painting, and his
favorite subject was roadkill. He was very talented but I didn’t
exactly “connect.” 2) Dennis Cox was a printmaker who made
very detailed prints, and he liked my work. 3) Ernst Schwidder
- his real medium was wood carving. I think his teaching had
the biggest impact on me because he taught me about expressive
lines!
January | February 2020
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