Blog Posts - INTERMOUNTAIN SOCIETY OF ARTISTS

May 2025 Meeting

5/13/2025

Candace Rideout will be presenting on May 13th !

Candace Rideout is an established Utah artist with forty years of experience. Her oil paintings are included in several private collections in the U.S. and Europe. Rideout graduated from the University of Utah with a double major in education and drawing & painting and was selected as the outstanding water colorist in her graduating class. After receiving a first place award at the Utah State Fair, she began teaching art in secondary education. Rideout then became a commercial artist for the Utah State Board of Education, creating illustrations for educational TV and art for their printed materials.

In 1968, Rideout started her own advertising agency with clients such as Brown Eyed Susan, College of Eastern Utah, the State of Utah, BMW dealership, Great Garb, Four and Twenty Sailors, and ZCMI. She won numerous national awards for commercial art and illustrated several children's books.

Rideout served as the Chairperson for the Holladay Arts Council for two years. She continues to try to involve the community in art related events. Maintaining a studio allows her to devote concentrated blocks of time to oil painting and teaching. She is currently a member of Laguna Plein Air, California Art Club, and Midway Art Association.

Rideout has been recognized with top awards at art fairs throughout the region, most recently 1st place in the Professional Division at the Utah State Fair, an invited artist at the Maynard Dixon Country, and a finalist in the Southwest Magazine Artistic Excellence Art Competition. She has been a finalist in the Plein Air Salon Art Competition and is currently a member of Oil Painters of America. Rideout's paintings are currently shown in Relics Framemakers & Gallery and at her Millcreek studio.

April 2025 Meeting

4/7/2025

Lisa Hildebrand will be presenting on April 8th!

"I am Lisa Hildebrand and I am a Recovering Art Director. I started my career as a Graphic Designer and occasionally illustration before working up to Art Director. I worked for design studios, several publishing companies, numerous ad agencies and a few in-house marketing departments. My traditional design by hand transition to digital in 1987 making me a digital native. When I drove to the office seeing the beautiful cityscape I hoped of the day I could just paint. I then focused my interests of painting and received my BFA at the University of Utah in 2015.
My design skills have directed me to ingrate them in my Art. Blending my best efforts of design to be included with my composition as if it were a design layout. So I paint the things I know, I use the tools I’m comfortable with, and paint without criticism.
The processes I use have start with the tools of my Grandfather who was a house painter by using of wall paint as he did. Grandpa was also a paperhanger that led me to try paper and paint chips applied to my art. Mixed Media and Collage allows me to describe planes, volume and a powerful color statement. With the reductive element of paint, the design can be seen as consequential occurring accidentally. I’ve added soft tones of paint to form a unique perspective of soft and hard edges. Adding character so the viewer will be compelled to ponder and not just see its representation but be reminded that it is controlled and deliberate."

March 2025 Meeting

3/10/2025

Kirt Harmon will be presenting on March 11th !

"As a builder and designer, I continue to enjoy a wonderful career here in Utah. Although I have had no formal art training, my eye for design, perspective and proportion has served me well throughout my life. During the mid-90’s, I suffered a severe back injury that laid me up for several months. During that time of convalescence, I took up painting as a therapeutic way to help me get through that time of incapacitation. I soon discovered that I really enjoyed it and that I had an aptitude for it. I have been painting ever since!
I am, for the most part, self taught. However, I have, for many years, followed and once personally studied with Jerry Yarnell, a nationally acclaimed acrylic painter. He has been the inspiration for my pursuit of painting. In fact, much of my early work was based on his art and public study sessions. Though I have used several mediums, I mostly paint with acrylics these days for health reasons as well as for practical. I have been blessed to be rather well traveled and I love to paint “on the road”, so the acrylic medium suites me best.
I have traditionally painted for myself … what I see, what I feel, for my eyes only. Each of my paintings has a story behind it. Recently however, many have encouraged me to take my work to the public.
I use a very limited palette. I prefer to mix my colors as I go so each piece is unique. The portrayal of light is one of my emphases. I have learned that composition, value structure and contrast are the foundation … the most important elements of my paintings. Adding the color scheme and details are fun, but if I don’t get the foundation right, the painting just doesn’t work! I have also learned that I cannot “force” a painting. The idea and inspiration from which the composition is born, comes at its own pace … sometimes immediately, other times slower than I want. But when it does come, I like to jump on it right away and get it done. It generally doesn’t very long for me to bring a painting to life once the basics are in place.
People tell me that my work has a richness about it and that it brings a positive, uplifting influence into their lives. I am humbled by that description. I sincerely hope that you enjoy my work as much as I have bringing it to you! I am grateful every day that I get to paint and be a dad and a grandpa!"

February 2025 Meeting

2/10/2025

Rose Torres will be presenting on February 11th !

"Art and Science have always been part of my life. Botanical art is an intersection between those two worlds.
I grew up drawing, playing in fields, and growing flowers. Being out in nature has been my safe place when life is hard. In high school I took as many art classes as my schedule would allow. I was even the Sterling Scholar in art. I took a few art classes in college, but ultimately did not major in it. I stopped painting altogether when my children were small. My medium was Oil, and too many paintings were destroyed by curious little fingers.
Several years ago, I purchased a house with a large, overgrown garden. I began researching the plants and how to take care of them. It was a big task. To make the job easier, I enrolled in the Master Gardener program offered by Utah State Extension, our local land grant university. This was my first real taste of botany, and I was hooked.
Fast forward a few years. I know the plants in my garden well, many of them are native to Utah. I started photographing them, arranging them, giving them as gifts to friends. One day I stumbled upon a painting of an artichoke by Elaine Searle. I was so inspired by this elegant painting; I began to teach myself watercolor so I could create botanical art too. Watercolor fit into my life much better than oil (fast drying time, no solvents, easy to stop at a moment’s notice), and I finally had a separate space to work in.
I enrolled in the only accessible botanical art program I could find: The Distance Learning Diploma course by the Society of Botanical Artists, an old school, snail mail, assignments in a binder, handwritten notes course. I graduated from the Society of Botanical Artists Diploma Course with Distinction (the highest level of diploma they award) in 2023. That same year, I was invited to be a Fellow Member of the Society of Botanical artists, an elite, worldwide group of artists. One of my paintings, White Springbeauty, was included in the Plantae 2024 catalog.
I am a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists and have a painting in their traveling exhibition Curious Allies, which is currently on display at the New York Botanical Gardens, and will travel to Tucson, Minneapolis, and Denver.
I am also a member of the Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists. I am on the communications committee and put together a quarterly newsletter. My Red Elderberry painting is on display in a traveling exhibition put on by the RMSBA in Montana.
I now have six children, seven chickens, a half-acre garden in the Salt Lake Valley, and forty acres of mountain property in central Utah. My kids are all in school now, so finding time for my art is a bit easier than it used to be. I find myself drawn to the native plants, bees, and butterflies of Utah and hope to use my art to educate others about the amazing plants that call Utah home, as well as aid in their conservation."

January 2025 Meeting Gallery

1/14/2025

These are the art pieces our members shared on our January meeting!

January 2025 Meeting

1/13/2025

Bryan Mark Taylor will be presenting on January 14th !

A painter, lecturer, entrepreneur, and world traveler, Bryan Mark Taylor is a renaissance man. As a painter, Bryan has won top awards in national and international shows, including three top awards in the 2022 ARC International Salon and a gold medal at the California Art Club’s annual exhibition in 2009. Bryan’s work is often featured in art and design magazines, including Plein Air, American Art Collector, Fine Art Connoisseur, and Imagine FX. In addition, you can find his artwork in private corporate and museum collections, including in the US, Europe, China, India, South America, and New Zealand.
Bryan is a sought-after teacher and lecturer who has taught courses at the Academy of Art University, Pixar Sentient Academy, and the /Scottsdale Artists School. In Addition, Bryan has been a featured speaker at the Plein Air, CTNX, Fantastic Arts, Dragonsteel, and VisionX conferences.
As a product designer and entrepreneur, Bryan developed a premier outdoor painting system, the STRADA Easel, used by plein air artists worldwide. In addition, he cofounded Sentient Academy and Vision X global art conference, which has inspired and taught artists from K-12, university, and professional levels.
Bryan finds inspiration as he travels around the globe, carefully observing and capturing cities, cultures, and nature’s everyday miracles. He was born in Portland, Oregon.
He received his BA from BYU in 2001 and an MFA from the Academy of Art University in 2005. He currently lives with his wife and children in Utah, USA.

ISA Christmas Party!

12/10/2024

December ISA Christmas and Year End party will be December 10th at 7:00 PM.

This year we will have a pot luck dinner. Please bring a dinner entrée, salad or dessert.

After dinner we will hand out 6” x 4” cards for you to create an artistic composition using either water colors, pen, graphite, colored pencils, crayons, markers, acrylics or any fast drying medium.
You need to bring your own medium from options listed above with you to create the composition.
The paper cards will be provided by ISA.
You should plan no more than an hour to create your artwork. Art pieces will be exchanged with other art participants chosen at random.

Come and share this fun evening of food and creativity with us. For any questions email [email protected].

November 2024 Meeting Gallery

11/21/2024

Thank you to everyone who attended! Here's a gallery of the works that our members brought in!

November 2024 Meeting

11/12/2024

Stacy Phillips from Golden Paints Working Artists will be presenting on November 12th!

I would like to invite you to join me in a vibrant discussion centered around you and the versatile world of Golden Artist Colors, Inc. This event, Just Paint Experience, aims to foster an open and collaborative atmosphere, creating a platform for us to delve into any questions you may have. Together, we will explore new and innovative concepts by harnessing the potential of Golden's products and resources. Your unique artistic perspective is not only welcomed but highly valued, promising to enrich our collective conversation and infuse it with diverse insights. I am genuinely excited about the prospect of hearing your thoughts on this creative journey, as we collectively navigate the boundless possibilities offered by Golden. I am looking forward to a vibrant exchange of ideas. This 90-minute event is FREE, please bring your questions and valued insights to contribute to this event.
Please follow this link or the QR code below to get registered for the event!

Timpanogos Arts Foundation Fall Gallery

11/8/2024

Enter up to three of your original artworks in this Fall Gallery !

Calling all artists! Timpanogos Arts Foundation invites you to submit your work for Inspiration: Fall Gallery 2024. Showcase up to three original pieces in our community gallery on November 8th and 9th at the TAF Arts Center in American Fork. With a $10 entry fee per piece, you can display and sell your artwork and prints. Early registration by October 21st guarantees a spot in our Artists Brochure, with the final deadline on November 1st. Share your creativity and connect with fellow artists—sign up today at TAFtix.com and be part of this inspiring event!