On a drawing board coated with white clay and a surface layer of black ink, Judith De Young shrewdly experiments. By scratching and scraping away, she produces an effect similar to engraving. Quietly, deliberately, and perhaps somewhat tediously, she subtly and skillfully transforms this simple sliver of scratchboard into an intelligent, judicious, and effective piece of artwork.

In an art world where conscious – even forced – stylistic change is valued the way standardized consistency used to be a generation ago, De Young manages the best of both worlds. Individually, her scratchboard art and oil paintings, mostly harboring landscape and wildlife themes, look very different, but they seem strikingly similar in their precise preciousness.

“The American West is my inspiration for painting and sharing my moments of pleasure and awareness of this landscape. I love what I do and where I live,” says De Young.

De Young moved to the Bitterroot Valley in 1989 from Florida, a state where she and her husband lived for 30 years, and the spot where she first remembers seeing the unique expressions of scratchboard art demonstrated.

Made with several layers of multi-colored clay, the pressure exerted on a scratchboard by the instrument being used determines the color that is revealed. Ultimately, scratchboard yields a highly detailed and textured piece of work far beyond that of traditional paintings. “I like the details that you can get when using scratchboard and the challenge of using it,” says de Young.

De Young adds: “Getting the effect that you want with scratchboard is tough. You need to keep scratching and painting and rotating to get different color schemes, and you have to really know how to draw when you work with scratchboard.”

Using the sharp, angled blade of an Exacto knife, De Young makes an outline on the surface of the scratchboard. (The scratchboard is first set beneath tracing paper and the desired pattern or image is transferred through sketching.) Depending on her intent, several areas may be cleared out for layering with watercolors or acrylics.

These fragile layers of clay between the ink and the board are then scratched off one by one to indent and create different shades of color that blend into and highlight certain parts of the image. It can then be retouched with more paint as necessary. This technique yields De Young wildlife images of everything from antelope and bull moose, to mountain goats and raccoons, which all appear remarkably lifelike. Alternatively, the cleared portions of the scratchboard may be left blank for a stark black-and-white image.

“You have to have the right amount of paint, because too much soaks the ink and it’ll smear when touched, and use too little and the paint doesn’t absorb. Either way, scratchboard is slow and precise,” says De Young, carefully etching veins in a leaf with the sharpest point of the knife. (Etching needles and blades can be used and manipulated for various desired effects, like creating abundant hair on an animal by ploddingly applying overlapping scratches.)

While De Young finds the repetitious movements of scratchboard boring at times, exploring its color stages, she says, is always quite exciting: “Sometimes I’ll add transparent water colors or occasionally acrylic to the scratchboard. The acrylic in the background adds depth, but you don’t want to add too much because it’ll get too busy. Colored inks and acrylic can be harsh. When you’re using oils you can make corrections, but when you’re using scratchboard your mistakes can only be minor.”

In fact, De Young has recently drifted away from scratchboard to oil paintings, because “using oils affords the use of a broader range of subjects and gives me unlimited possibilities for experimentation and creativity.”

Much of De Young’s oil and scratchboard art have landscape and wildlife themes. Perhaps this isn’t surprising when considering that the solace and slow pace of Bitterroot life fosters an intuitive connection to such subject matters in this still fairly isolated region. “Hunting and fishing have always been a big part of my life and that’s what fosters my love of the landscape. I’ve always tried to capture the setting that’s natural to the animal, too. You know, I’ve thought about quitting wildlife, but animals always seem to creep into the paintings,” De Young says.

Indeed, to artists like De Young, the valley is a vital and inspiring place to explore the creative process, to experience the vastness and power of the Montana landscape and to balance the solitude of studio life with interaction of a small and engaging community. 

Adjacent to her home, in a low-stress and handsome log cabin studio originally intended as a horse shed, De Young stays busy with her art work. “It’s a nice room, a big room, but of course I’ve still managed to run out of space,” she says.

Some days she’ll spend four to six hours in the studio, which may sound like a lot of time at first, but it may not actually be enough time considering that one of her scratchboard pieces titled “Antelope in a Frying Pan Basin,” resplendent with a painted acrylic background, foreground and highly detailed fence posts, took about 100-150 hours to complete.

Pinpointing and deciding on just what nature scene to draw and capture can be challenging, perhaps it’s a scene from the isolated and enthralling Snowies, south of Lewiston, a slow moving herd of antelope near Dillon, or a fishing access area in the Big Hole, or maybe a striking setting from a fishing trip off the Canadian islands, which ensnares her attention.

Occasionally, however, De Young gets marooned or boggled and bothered by a piece of artwork. When these tricky things happen, her home overlooking Lost Horse Creek’s rippling waters perpetually provides a natural inspiration.

“Sometimes I get stuck, but all I have to do is just take a short walk. I see a lot of everything out here, from owls to moose. You couldn’t get me to move away from this place.”

Judith De Young’s artwork will be displayed from November 22 through January 22 at the Frame Shop and Gallery, 325 West Main Street in Hamilton.

Sung in the style of church or chapel music, A Cappella is an Italian expression meaning without instrumental accompaniment, and is a vocal tradition dating back centuries. Today, the Bitterroot-based Montana A Cappella Society eagerly exemplifies this discipline and proudly practices the choral continuation of a cappella culture.

The concept of a cappella is to create a modulated group harmony with one single voice and to have each singer’s vocal and body vibrations and resonance in melody with all other performers in the group. Results of such blending can be incredibly uplifting and beautiful, says Don Matlock, the Montana A Cappella Society’s founder and its musical choreographer and conductor.

“Each section, and the group as a whole, sounds as near as it can be to one person, one voice. You want to always be working on the techniques of listening to the people next to you, and then matching that sound. There are no soloists in the group, but a collective group, a bunch of individuals working together,” says Matlock.

In September 2003, Matlock proposed the a cappella idea to the Hamilton Players and shortly after the Hamilton Players A Cappella Society was born. (The group began with ten singers and now has 23.)

“Being a new group, everybody passed their auditions,” smiles Matlock.

After three years of growing pains and growth spurts and shifting goals, and much discussion, the Hamilton Players A Cappella Society became the Montana A Cappella Society, and the organization’s first show under its new name took place in May at Corvallis United Methodist Church.

Singing unaccompanied works rooted in every musical style from folk tunes to big band jams, there’s more to the Montana A Cappella Society than just Christmas caroling; the group performs all year long and categorizes its work into two seasons: the Holiday Season (Christmas and New Year’s) and everything else.

One of the most important ways of maintaining a cohesive a cappella sound is by getting the people and personalities projecting the voices to become amiable intermixtures before the music starts – and after it ends. Indeed, A Cappella creates terrific friendships, says Matlock, because if the group can’t all work together then nothing worth listening to will develop, and there’s less ego involved when there’s no external instruments, and in this musical medium it’s harder for one musician to believe they’re better than everyone else.

Matlock, who grew up in a musical family and studied music in high school and college, loves all aspects of his conducting life - but one thing truly stands out.

“This is supposed to be fun. This shouldn’t be a burden.”

In fact, telling a story in a musical setting requires a technical proficiency rife with emotion and energy, whimsicalness and unadorned fun. “If it’s not fun for us, it won’t be fun for the audience. Conveying friendship and fun is important for us. By the time we’re done playing a concert, hopefully there’s a new friend out there in the audience having fun with us,” says Matlock.

The Montana A Cappella Society was invited last December as guest artists to the Great Dickens Christmas Fair in San Francisco, a holiday adventure set in a twilight evening in Dickens’ lively and colorful London Town. The event, says Matlock, became a true bonding experience where group members harmonized with each other on both vocal and personal levels. This trip to San Francisco was great for the group and solidified friendships, and provided the creative impulse and impetus for something else even bigger: a CD.

Recorded in Don and Frances Matlock’s living room, “Christmasse Comes But Once a Year” is a 22-track compilation of lesser known Christmas music and familiar holiday tunes, like Jingle Bells, sung and arranged in a fresh, unfamiliar manner. (Frances is the organization’s costume guru, wardrobe authority and inspector; finding and locating ensemble garb from EBay and thrift shops and as loans from other theatrical groups, is her forte.)

About the songs Matlock says: “There are some obscure gems on this disc that haven’t been performed all that frequently. The group sings the tracks with the precision of a professional group. One reviewer in Wisconsin said that we’re singing for the love of the music, and that it’s certainly well enough to listen to it. He said we’re doing it for the joy of the music – that’s true.”

Sixteenth century Spanish nightingale ballad “Riu, Riu, Chiu” was the hardest track to perform and is probably the most obscure to audiences, says Matlock. “The timing to Riu, Riu, Chiu is different and there are numerous shifts in tonality. We perform Jingle Bells as it was originally published, not as it’s been modified and changed by contemporary artists, so it’s a brand new old fashioned setting of Jingle Bells.”

The idea of cutting a CD was suggested to Matlock by a friend the day after Christmas 2005. The friend had been listening to holiday music all season, ad nauseum, and told Matlock (who didn’t need much convincing) that his group sounded even better than the stuff being played on the radio.

“By that time we were done with Christmas, but we gathered everybody back together to rekindle the spirit,” he says.

The Matlock’s large and acoustically friendly living room became the setting for the CD’s singing after Corvallis United Methodist Church proved too noisy.

“We laid down one track at the church and you could hear every car going by on the highway. Our home was the quietest place we could find and we laid down all the tracks in two days,” Matlock says.

The recording’s acoustics and arrangements went smoothly, but a mighty stomach virus affected all of the project’s musicians and engineers, providing an undelightful touch of drama.

“Jason Hicks, who was in charge of the mixing and mastering of the CD, ended up in the hospital during the middle of the session. It was a nasty flu,” says Matlock.

Enervated and resilient, the group finished their gleeful recordings and stayed the choral course, creating something undeniably versatile, innovative and cheerful in the process, and proving that Matlock’s members are ready to wail with the pros.

As a matter of fact, Matlock has plans to conduct another CD that’s tentatively set for 2008, and even though he’s feeling pretty chipper these days about his own doings and deeds, when reflecting on the agreeable actions and accomplishments of his neighbors and friends who form the Montana A Cappella Society, his smile grows larger and brighter.

“I’m so excited for all of the singers because they’ve worked so hard. I’m thrilled beyond words for all of them.”

A couple of years ago, while assessing Corvallis High School’s outdated track field and archaic football field, some parents got to thinking about what could be done to improve them. There was a strong desire to provide better facilities for the Corvallis Blue Devils’ teams, but any improvements done would likely be expensive. These folks also acknowledged that there were quite a few economically challenged families in their area, and didn’t want to push for something that would burden the community.

What began with casual meetings to address economic concerns of improving Corvallis’ athletic facilities, later formed into a well-organized team of very motivated volunteers known as the Corvallis Community Event Center Foundation. As the idea blossomed, so did the community’s interest and enthusiasm, and the original thinking of bettering the track and football fields exploded into well-embraced ideas that would encompass so much more. The Foundation thought why not dream big, think big? Why not include new soccer fields, or a park and playground?

To get a feel for what they wanted, they checked out facilities at other Montana schools, and developed specific ideas for the new events center.

The site of this futuristic community center would be situated on the public lands of Corvallis School District’s 30-acre lands, which already housed the football and track facilities. Those lands had plenty of space to accommodate all of that “big thinking.” The next step was getting the school to back the whole concept, which it did. Not only was the concept accepted, it was embraced, and generated support not only from the school board, but the faculty and students. In fact, that list of supporters includes the school district’s superintendent, Daniel Sybrant, who was “all on board,” and heavily involved.

Since it was predetermined not to ask Corvallis citizens for a tax levy, the project has to be privately funded, which places total reliance on volunteers, donations, fundraising, philanthropists, and perhaps even a grant to generate the funds. Had the taxpayers been approached for the funds, they’d have been asked to shell out for a $1.3 million bond; the forecasted total cost of the Events Center improvements is about $350,000.

The completion of “Phase I” gave Corvallis first-class soccer fields (which was formally a field of weeds) that players have already enjoyed since the spring of 2005. Youngsters get to romp in the Blue Devil Kingdom Playground and Big Blue Park. With the community’s efforts, donations and volunteerism, new footbridges were installed across the irrigation ditch that divided the land, along with new fencing that safeguards kids from the ditch.

Phase I is a wonderful example of what a community can accomplish with volunteerism. The efforts, spirit, strength, and generosity of Corvallis citizens and area businesses accomplished every step. One day, a crew of volunteers with donated materials planted over 20 trees. How to hydrate the vast acres of fields was addressed too, and an enormous sprinkler system with some 62-sprinkler heads disbursing water was installed (thanks to many business donations, including Earth and Wood).

“The dream” of providing Corvallis kids with a first class, state-of-the-art athletic complex still has a way to go. It’s halfway there, but the dream’s remaining journey will require even more fundraising and plenty of volunteer work.

“Phase II” primarily addresses the track and football facilities. It envisions an all-weather rubberized 10-lane track (to the tune of $100,000). To crown the track will be a new crows’ nest that will allow announcers a topnotch view. Upon completion, this track will be the finest in any western Montana school. The football field will also be quite deluxe when done. The catch is all of the funds have to be raised before the projects of Phase II commence. But CCECF’s board and supporters have come up with great fundraising strategies.

Daniel Sybrant’s “thinking cap” illuminated with one of the best fundraising ideas to date, “Buy A Meter Of Track.” It involves selling a spot on a giant track board to people and businesses. For as little as $50 (which buys a meter of track), you can have a name memorialized on the board. Various sized spots are available, with the price increasing per space size purchased. The board will be prominently displayed at the gymnasium’s entrance at the high school. To date, this clever idea has generated about $45,000. The end result is hoped to net $140,000.

By far the biggest fundraiser the CCECF’s has is the Viva Las Vegas, which occurs in the spring. For a $50 admission, patrons can dance to fantastic music, consume a gourmet meal, and try one’s luck at gambling. A cash bar is also on site. What makes this rather nifty is there are few events where adults can have an excuse to “dress up.” This event is a semi-formal party, and that spells a magical time.

Even the smallest donation helps. A convenient way to make a donation or a commitment of your talented time is to contact CCEC at Box 748, Corvallis, 59828, or by phone at 369-1075, or via e-mail: www.goCorvallis.com..

In the wake of the “Blue Wave” Charlie Cook and many other pundits and talking heads predicted in the mid-term elections, Montana finds itself in an unusual place. Not only was Montana carefully watched as a bellwether state in the election, we are now experiencing a curious combination of political power and national media attention. Like the country at large, Montanans are demanding deeper shades of blue from this newest group of elected Dems. 

As I mentioned in my last column, those of us who’ve watched Montana politics for decades know that Max Baucus was not elected as some fluke in an otherwise Republican state. Prior to the Conrad Burns/Marc Racicot Republican swell in Montana, there was a proud tradition of working-class Democratic candidates and leaders that mirrored a very different time in the Democratic party as a whole. It was a time when middle- and lower-middle-class folks were the primary constituency of Democrats, and populism and grassroots politics weren’t the stuff of high hopes.  

That period of Democratic politics was embodied by leaders like Presidents Truman, Johnson and Kennedy, as well as the legendary Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill. Each of them was a child of ethnic and socio-economic groups who had become hyper-aware of the power of their individual votes, and how, by organizing, they could sound a powerful voice in American politics.  

In his excellent memoir “Man of the House,” O’Neill recounts the moment he decided to go into politics. Having grown up in North Cambridge, Massachusetts, O’Neill was a proud member of an Irish-Catholic family when Irish-Catholics were less than second-class citizens. Having landed a groundskeeper job at Harvard University in 1924, O’Neill remembered seeing graduating Harvard students drinking champagne in a canvas tent. Prohibition was still in effect in the U.S., and the disregard the group showed for the law offended O’Neill deeply. Out of that moment came the following resolve: 

“On that commencement day at Harvard, as I watched those privileged, confident Ivy League Yankees who had everything in life handed to them in life, I made a resolution. Someday, I vowed, I would work to make sure my own people could go to places like Harvard, where they could avail themselves of the same opportunities that these young college men took for granted.” 

These are the aforementioned deeper shades of blue. Democrats have the chance to display both pragmatism and vision in social and economic issues. Moderates, traditional conservatives and libertarians alike are disheartened by the Bush administration’s excessive deficit spending and burgeoning federal government.  

Let’s just hope that Democrats remember that these mid-term victories are a vote of no-confidence in the current Congress and administration rather than an endorsement of the Democrats themselves. It is a rejection of ideologues and a return to a politics based on checks and balances. 

If these are hopes for larger outcomes of the mid-terms, what can we expect, more locally, from our Montana representation? With the accumulated power of senior Senator Max Baucus, and the media attention lavished on junior Senator-elect Jon Tester, Montana has earned a seat at the dais of American politics.  

Baucus, Montana’s long-standing Senator, will become chairman of the very powerful Senate Finance Committee in January. Originally elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978, and is currently mid-way through his fifth term in that seat. 

Tester, on the other hand, has gained power of a different stripe in this recent election—media attention. His victory over Conrad Burns has captured the imagination of several large media outlets, many of which have painted Tester as a latter day “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” In a political season marred by corruption, dirty campaigns and somber questions, Tester has been seen, by many, as a sign that the system can work.  

Chris Matthews had Tester on his program “Hardball” November 9. Known for his combative, no-nonsense style of questioning, Matthews demeanor with Tester was markedly different. Telling Tester he was “honored to meet him,” and that Tester had “made the system work,” Matthews pointed to the chair across from his in the Washington, D.C. studio, offering it to Tester and saying he’s always welcome on the show.  

Tester also appeared on “Meet the Press” along with Senator-elect Jim Webb of Virginia. Russert, while not as effusive in his greeting of Tester, was noticeably reserved in his questions. This reserve became even more evident when Russert questioned Webb, who is a long-time D.C-insider, and an expert on issues of foreign policy and national defense. It was clear that Russert was taking it easy on Tester.  

While it was charming to see such seasoned journalist/politicos taken back by Tester’s victory, being a bit differential to him in the process, that same politeness raises questions.  As one Helena insider put it to me during a recent conversation, “I wonder if he’ll get chewed up by the D.C. establishment; he’s clearly a bit out of his league.”  

Tester seems to be taking the attention in stride. As he commented to Great Falls Tribune reporter Eric Newhouse, regarding all the interview requests, “I even got a call from a guy in Germany that I didn’t know from a bar of soap.” 

But for all his country charm, Tester is both careful and diligent when getting out his message. During his “Meet the Press” appearance, he was careful to defer to Webb on matters of national security and foreign policy, but Tester wasn’t afraid to assert himself when it came to issues on which he’d campaigned. On the issues of transparency as an antidote to corruption and protecting the middle class, Tester was resolute, sounding very much like the populists of old:  

“But ultimately, in the end, you need to have people in Washington, D.C. who are honest, who can’t be bought. [….] When you talk about a representative government, it should be for everybody not just the moneyed interests. [….] We’ve got a lot of good people back there doing a lot of work, sacrificing family and a lot of other things, and we need to make sure that ethics and honesty are a foundation of our government.” 

Populism, at its heart, is the stuff of Charles Reznikoff’s poem “Te Deum.” Borrowing his title from the traditional religious hymn of praise, Reznikoff sings for “the day’s work done/as well as I was able;/not for a seat upon the dais/but at the common table.”  

My sincere hope is for our representatives in government, both Democrat and Republican, to find their way back to the common table.