UPCOMING:
Now - October 20, 2024 - The Brinton Museum Artist Residency Show, Big Horn, WY
Now - October 20, 2024 - The Brinton Museum Artist Residency Show, Big Horn, WY
Western Art & Architecture February/March 2019
Illuminations: Amy Brakeman Livezey
Written by Michele Corriel
read article here
Illuminations: Amy Brakeman Livezey
Written by Michele Corriel
read article here
Missoulian, July 26, 2018
'Wild: Blue' art show explores azure's broad, enduring appeal
Written by Cory Walsh
read article here
'Wild: Blue' art show explores azure's broad, enduring appeal
Written by Cory Walsh
read article here
Missoula News, August 2, 2018
Amy Brakeman Livezey mixes abstract painting with old Montana imagery at Radius Gallery
Written by Sarah Aswell
Amy Brakeman Livezey’s paintings are part of the WILD : BLUE exhibit at Radius Gallery through Aug. 18.
Helena artist Amy Brakeman Livezey suffers from what her friend calls “the plight of the empath.” She’s always wondering, she says, exactly how others are experiencing the world. It’s a trait that can be overwhelming and distracting, but for Livezey, it’s also at the heart of her artwork.
Several of her recent paintings have their beginnings at the Montana Historical Society, where Livezey visits to sift through old collections of photographs looking for inspiration for her paintings. The ones that catch her eye have a few similarities: They often feature women, they often include action, and they often depict the homesteading life: feeding chickens, leaning on a shotgun, hanging laundry, hefting a toddler on a hip. Livezey looks at every tiny detail. She tries to connect with the stranger simply by looking – she doesn’t conduct any further research on the snapshot except for looking at a date or title, or to make certain the image isn’t copyrighted.
“When I’m drawn to a photograph, I just want to learn a little more,” Livezey says. “I want to relate to that person and understand what was going on with them. I love the history. Love the details. How did they fasten their shoes? What was their story?”
To explore the connection on a deeper level, she paints. The figure in the photograph often gets a realistic depiction on her canvas, but from there, Livezey’s mixed media projects bend toward the surreal and modern as she piles on layers of paint, collage, patterns, colors and textures. The results are contemporary western flights of fancy that marry real people and moments in history with a visual representation of what Livezey has learned and felt through studying the image. Amy Brakeman Livezey’s “Hold Her Ground,” top, and “A Going Concern,” are part of the Radius Gallery’s current exhibit, Wild: Blue.
In one painting, “Hold Her Ground,” for example, a woman stands in 19th century dress, one arm akimbo, next to an old-fashioned plow. The “field” around her seems to be a harvest of abstract white and blue rectangles, while the plow has cut a dark path of squiggles through the land. An unpainted house sits darkly in the background.
“I started working more abstractly just in the last couple of years, but it’s so perfect for this exploration,” Livezey says. “It’s a way of having a conversation with that photograph and honoring the complexities of this continuum, between where that person lived a hundred years ago and where I am now. The layers upon layers point to the complexity of time and history and cultural location. There’s so much in-between there that we have to go through to understand each other and this is such a fulfilling way to learn about that figure.”
Livezey has had a lifelong passion for creative pursuits. She grew up writing and drawing, and after college decided to pursue an MFA in film and film studies. After graduating, she moved West — a region she’d loved since she was a child — and settled in Helena, projecting movies for the Myrna Loy Center. She married landscape artist Dale Livezey.
For 11 years, she worked with a home builder, doing design work for custom homes. She enjoyed it, but the responsibilities of the job meant putting her personal creative pursuits aside, and the stress of the job wore her down. Finally, last year, she decided to take the leap, step away from her job and pursue art full time. “Being able to concentrate on [my art], and get positive feedback from it, has given me a lot of confidence,” she says. “The initial plan of finding another job has been put on hold, and I hope that will last.” So far, in the last year, she’s gotten a fine start. Her paintings have been selling, and in addition to Wild:Blue, her current show at Radius Gallery alongside painter Tabby Ivy, she has work on display at Art Spirit Gallery in Idaho. It’s hard work, and sometimes scraping out a living as an artist seems nearly impossible — but she gets a lot of her inspiration and determination from the women who stare back at her from the photographs she paints.
“The homesteading period fascinates me,” Livezey says.” “I think about the hard work these women did every single day, and what were their prospects really? Were they really going to be able to make a living, out of nothing? I relate to that feeling, as what I’m doing as an artist right now. Like, really? I’m going to live just from this? It sometimes seems impossible, but I’m going to give it a try.”
Amy Brakeman Livezey mixes abstract painting with old Montana imagery at Radius Gallery
Written by Sarah Aswell
Amy Brakeman Livezey’s paintings are part of the WILD : BLUE exhibit at Radius Gallery through Aug. 18.
Helena artist Amy Brakeman Livezey suffers from what her friend calls “the plight of the empath.” She’s always wondering, she says, exactly how others are experiencing the world. It’s a trait that can be overwhelming and distracting, but for Livezey, it’s also at the heart of her artwork.
Several of her recent paintings have their beginnings at the Montana Historical Society, where Livezey visits to sift through old collections of photographs looking for inspiration for her paintings. The ones that catch her eye have a few similarities: They often feature women, they often include action, and they often depict the homesteading life: feeding chickens, leaning on a shotgun, hanging laundry, hefting a toddler on a hip. Livezey looks at every tiny detail. She tries to connect with the stranger simply by looking – she doesn’t conduct any further research on the snapshot except for looking at a date or title, or to make certain the image isn’t copyrighted.
“When I’m drawn to a photograph, I just want to learn a little more,” Livezey says. “I want to relate to that person and understand what was going on with them. I love the history. Love the details. How did they fasten their shoes? What was their story?”
To explore the connection on a deeper level, she paints. The figure in the photograph often gets a realistic depiction on her canvas, but from there, Livezey’s mixed media projects bend toward the surreal and modern as she piles on layers of paint, collage, patterns, colors and textures. The results are contemporary western flights of fancy that marry real people and moments in history with a visual representation of what Livezey has learned and felt through studying the image. Amy Brakeman Livezey’s “Hold Her Ground,” top, and “A Going Concern,” are part of the Radius Gallery’s current exhibit, Wild: Blue.
In one painting, “Hold Her Ground,” for example, a woman stands in 19th century dress, one arm akimbo, next to an old-fashioned plow. The “field” around her seems to be a harvest of abstract white and blue rectangles, while the plow has cut a dark path of squiggles through the land. An unpainted house sits darkly in the background.
“I started working more abstractly just in the last couple of years, but it’s so perfect for this exploration,” Livezey says. “It’s a way of having a conversation with that photograph and honoring the complexities of this continuum, between where that person lived a hundred years ago and where I am now. The layers upon layers point to the complexity of time and history and cultural location. There’s so much in-between there that we have to go through to understand each other and this is such a fulfilling way to learn about that figure.”
Livezey has had a lifelong passion for creative pursuits. She grew up writing and drawing, and after college decided to pursue an MFA in film and film studies. After graduating, she moved West — a region she’d loved since she was a child — and settled in Helena, projecting movies for the Myrna Loy Center. She married landscape artist Dale Livezey.
For 11 years, she worked with a home builder, doing design work for custom homes. She enjoyed it, but the responsibilities of the job meant putting her personal creative pursuits aside, and the stress of the job wore her down. Finally, last year, she decided to take the leap, step away from her job and pursue art full time. “Being able to concentrate on [my art], and get positive feedback from it, has given me a lot of confidence,” she says. “The initial plan of finding another job has been put on hold, and I hope that will last.” So far, in the last year, she’s gotten a fine start. Her paintings have been selling, and in addition to Wild:Blue, her current show at Radius Gallery alongside painter Tabby Ivy, she has work on display at Art Spirit Gallery in Idaho. It’s hard work, and sometimes scraping out a living as an artist seems nearly impossible — but she gets a lot of her inspiration and determination from the women who stare back at her from the photographs she paints.
“The homesteading period fascinates me,” Livezey says.” “I think about the hard work these women did every single day, and what were their prospects really? Were they really going to be able to make a living, out of nothing? I relate to that feeling, as what I’m doing as an artist right now. Like, really? I’m going to live just from this? It sometimes seems impossible, but I’m going to give it a try.”
Solo Exhibits
Historical Present, SAGE Community Arts, Sheridan, WY Sept 2021
Helena College, Helena, MT Feb/March 2020
Circling Back, Jailhouse Gallery - Myrna Loy Center, Helena, MT August/Sept 2019
Plain Embrace, Jailhouse Gallery - Myrna Loy Center, Helena, MT Feb/March 2018
Solo Exhibit, Nicholson Gallery, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT October 2014
Group Exhibits
Artists Residency Show, The Brinton Museum, Big Horn, WY 2024
Subtleties: Group Exhibition featuring Cheryl Browder, Leon Loughridge, and Amy Brakeman Livezey at Oh Be Joyful Gallery, Crested Butte, CO 2024
Tell Me A Story, Group Show at Radius Gallery, Missoula, MT 2024
Her Stories, Her West: New Works by Jessica Glenn and Amy Brakeman Livezey, Hockaday Museum, Kalisepll, MT, 2023
Miniatures By The Lake Show, Coeur d'Alene Galleries, ID, 2019, 2020-2023
Fiercely Feminine, Oh Be Joyful Gallery, Crested Butte, CO, 2023
Contemporary Western II, Oh Be Joyful Gallery, Crested Butte, CO, 2022
Spring Artwalk, Helena Home Team, 2022
Art2Life International Juried Art Exhibition, online exhibit, 2021 & 2022
Connections, ART 55 International Invitational online exhibit, 2021
Holiday Show, Radius Gallery, Missoula, MT, December 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
2020 Art2Life International Juried Art Exhibition, online exhibit
10th Annual National Juried Show, Sage Community Arts, Sheridan, WY 2020
12Squared, Terakedis Gallery, Billings, MT December 2019
Small Works, Art Spirit Gallery, Coeur d’Alene, ID December 2018, 2019
2018 Art2Life Academy Juried Art Exhibition, online exhibit
Wild/Blue, Radius Gallery, Missoula, MT, July 2018
Spring Artwalk, Federal Reserve Bank, Helena, MT, 2018
Fall Artwalk, Cobblestone Clothing, Helena, MT, November 2017
This is Helena, Free Ceramics, Helena, MT , December 2017
Fall Artwalk, Triple Divide Distillery, Helena, MT November 2015
Untold Stories, A.L. Swanson Gallery, Helena, MT, April 2012
Double Vision, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT, May 2010
With Dale Livezey, A.L. Swanson Gallery, Helena, MT May-June 2008
Emerging Artists, A.L. Swanson Gallery, Helena, MT 2005
Study
Robert Szot: A Work in Progress, 2023
Patrick Lee: How I Paint, Interaction, Idea, and process workshop, 2022
Language of Design with Mark Eanes, 2021
Language of Color with Mark Eanes, 2020
Study with Carolyn Anderson, Steamboat Art Museum, CO 2019
Creative Visionary Path with Nicholas Wilton 2017 and 2019
Portraiture, Romel de la Torre, Scottsdale Artist School, AZ 2012
Still Life Painting, Dale Livezey, Holter Museum of Art, MT 2000
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, MFA Cinema 1993
Syracuse University, Film/Art Study 1990
University of Iowa, BA Communication Studies/Film, Phi Beta Kappa 1989
Residency
The Brinton Museum, May 2023
Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts, October 2018
Publication
High Desert Journal, Issue 28 featured artist, 2019
Teaching
Techniques in Acrylic Paint, Tubac School of Fine Art, AZ 2021 - 2024
Historical Present, SAGE Community Arts, Sheridan, WY Sept 2021
Helena College, Helena, MT Feb/March 2020
Circling Back, Jailhouse Gallery - Myrna Loy Center, Helena, MT August/Sept 2019
Plain Embrace, Jailhouse Gallery - Myrna Loy Center, Helena, MT Feb/March 2018
Solo Exhibit, Nicholson Gallery, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT October 2014
Group Exhibits
Artists Residency Show, The Brinton Museum, Big Horn, WY 2024
Subtleties: Group Exhibition featuring Cheryl Browder, Leon Loughridge, and Amy Brakeman Livezey at Oh Be Joyful Gallery, Crested Butte, CO 2024
Tell Me A Story, Group Show at Radius Gallery, Missoula, MT 2024
Her Stories, Her West: New Works by Jessica Glenn and Amy Brakeman Livezey, Hockaday Museum, Kalisepll, MT, 2023
Miniatures By The Lake Show, Coeur d'Alene Galleries, ID, 2019, 2020-2023
Fiercely Feminine, Oh Be Joyful Gallery, Crested Butte, CO, 2023
Contemporary Western II, Oh Be Joyful Gallery, Crested Butte, CO, 2022
Spring Artwalk, Helena Home Team, 2022
Art2Life International Juried Art Exhibition, online exhibit, 2021 & 2022
Connections, ART 55 International Invitational online exhibit, 2021
Holiday Show, Radius Gallery, Missoula, MT, December 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
2020 Art2Life International Juried Art Exhibition, online exhibit
10th Annual National Juried Show, Sage Community Arts, Sheridan, WY 2020
12Squared, Terakedis Gallery, Billings, MT December 2019
Small Works, Art Spirit Gallery, Coeur d’Alene, ID December 2018, 2019
2018 Art2Life Academy Juried Art Exhibition, online exhibit
Wild/Blue, Radius Gallery, Missoula, MT, July 2018
Spring Artwalk, Federal Reserve Bank, Helena, MT, 2018
Fall Artwalk, Cobblestone Clothing, Helena, MT, November 2017
This is Helena, Free Ceramics, Helena, MT , December 2017
Fall Artwalk, Triple Divide Distillery, Helena, MT November 2015
Untold Stories, A.L. Swanson Gallery, Helena, MT, April 2012
Double Vision, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT, May 2010
With Dale Livezey, A.L. Swanson Gallery, Helena, MT May-June 2008
Emerging Artists, A.L. Swanson Gallery, Helena, MT 2005
Study
Robert Szot: A Work in Progress, 2023
Patrick Lee: How I Paint, Interaction, Idea, and process workshop, 2022
Language of Design with Mark Eanes, 2021
Language of Color with Mark Eanes, 2020
Study with Carolyn Anderson, Steamboat Art Museum, CO 2019
Creative Visionary Path with Nicholas Wilton 2017 and 2019
Portraiture, Romel de la Torre, Scottsdale Artist School, AZ 2012
Still Life Painting, Dale Livezey, Holter Museum of Art, MT 2000
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, MFA Cinema 1993
Syracuse University, Film/Art Study 1990
University of Iowa, BA Communication Studies/Film, Phi Beta Kappa 1989
Residency
The Brinton Museum, May 2023
Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts, October 2018
Publication
High Desert Journal, Issue 28 featured artist, 2019
Teaching
Techniques in Acrylic Paint, Tubac School of Fine Art, AZ 2021 - 2024
