Craig Edwards, a local artist and farmer, received special recognition at the Montana Western Art Week show in Great Falls 2 weeks ago. Craig has been participating in the art show for years, but for the first time was included in the Charlie Russell Auction, which took place at the CM Russell Museum on March 17th. Craig's inclusion in the silent auction is the first time photographic art was included in the auction.
Craig explained the auction itself and the significance of his inclusion: "The Russell has two main auction events. Their big one, which is tomorrow, where they invite top flight artists to be part of their auction. And then they have the Friday night event, which is a juried show. So people submit to that. The Russell Museum then juries people in. I've been trying for several years to get into that, and finally have this year."
"The Friday night event is a preview of the Saturday night main auction items. It is also a silent auction for juried artists." Juried artists are those whose work is selected by a group from the CM Russell Museum. "It's a big honor" to have a piece included among the (around) 30 silent auction items at the event. "The Saturday night Main Event items are in the same room on display for people to look at." The main event items are all works from "invited artists. Those are really big names and many years, they'll have a Russell. They will also have OC Seltzer." Craig explained that Seltzer was a famous western painter. "The governor was there and spoke to the crowd. So you know, it was a highfalutin' event." Craig joked that, "I had to buy new shoulder pads. You know, in order to rub shoulders with those guys. I had to buy bigger shoulder pads."
Prairie Storm, the piece depicting the 2012 tornado that hit the Big Sandy area, was the piece included in the show. He explained that the auction sale exceeded his expectations "by about twice."
The show itself was a success for Craig. He explained that he was very busy throughout the sale, around twice as busy last year. "I think the thing I liked the best about the whole event is the relationships that I develop with other artists. I love that; it's just fantastic." Speaking with others at the art show, I found that Craig has a reputation for developing relationships with others, showing genuine interest in their work, and helping them grow and succeed as artists. "It's just about developing friendships within that community. We don't really talk about art that much when we get together privately. It's about things that everyone talks about, you know, except politics, nobody talked politics."
Craig was also interviewed for a Great Falls based podcast that covered the show. The Montana Lifestyles Podcast, hosted by Tim Lee, interviewed Craig on Sunday night. You can check that out on The Montana Lifestyles Podcast on YouTube, which is sponsored by Treasure State Lifestyle Magazine.
On Friday, at the art show, I discussed a wide range of subjects with Craig, including the unique perspective he brings to his work. I asked about his gift for finding the beauty in various aspects of farm and prairie living. He explained: "The main reason I do that is because I don't get to travel anywhere else. You know, it sounds funny, but it's true. I don't get anywhere else... I don't get to travel to Glacier. Never been to Yellowstone. That's what other people photograph or paint. I'm out on the farm, and I don't get to travel very far and don't want to. I look for the more subtle things that I can photograph. I see myself, in many ways, as a documentarian of life on the prairie. I think my artistic expression is always about how I feel internally, and I feel pretty rusty and old. And so that's what I'm drawn to. You know, I don't do very many photographs of shiny objects. Because I'm not one. I try to be very authentic to who I am, which is, you know, old, rusty, broken down. Pretty much sitting in the weeds." Craig's perspective and eye for subtle beauty has created work that brings to the forefront what is beautiful and unique about the place we live. The beauty of our world isn't as popular a subject for artistic exploration."
However, Craig's stirring body of work testifies that there is no shortage of subject matter in what some might dismiss without a deeper look. "There's a subtle beauty to the prairie that we take for granted. But it still exists there. That's what I try to find." Later he remarked: "I guess I'd say I have adapted my photography to the prairie the same way that people adapt to the prairie. And like you said, you either love it or you hate it. I don't expect people from Western Montana to like this. Or to like the prairie, and vice versa."
I was particularly pleased to have the opportunity to see the newest of Craig's "Good Vs. Evil" Series. "Lifespan" is the fourth installment in the series and has already garnered some critical success."I entered that in competition at the Montana Professional Photographers Association convention this month. And it's one of those images where people either love it or hate it. But the judges at that show loved it, and it scored the highest of any print at the show and got Best of Show." I am eagerly awaiting the completion of the series so I can write a longer piece on my personal favorite pieces in Craig's body of work.
As always, Craig's display at the show included bottles of harvest dust from the prairie west of Big Sandy: "The dirt is the finest dirt product sold, I think in the world. I shouldn't say the finest third product sold, because no one actually buys it. It sits there. It doesn't do anything. People either think I'm crazy or try to sell me their dirt which is very frustrating. I have not sold any dirt at this show. Although I have sold out of most of the edition of 45 from 2019. I have three jars left and of course because there's only three they are available for $5,000 each." The elevated price is due to their limited edition status.
Craig's work is on display at his gallery in Big Sandy. You can also visit his web site to see more of his art and order prints.
