Two new exhibits open April 6 at the Oats Park Arts Center

Michelle Osman’s “I Saw Above Me That Endless Skyway” features paintings of Big Sky Country.

An artist’s talk and reception for Osman is April 6 from 5-7 p.m., and her talk begins at 5:30 p.m. in the E. L. Wiegand Gallery.

Osman’s exhibition runs from April 6 through July 13.

Exclusive sponsorship for this exhibition has been provided by the E. L. Wiegand Foundation.

“My paintings are temporal narratives that capture and create a moment,” Osman said in her biography. “They draw from, build upon and illustrate subjects and ideas of our cultural history. For me the subject must refer to something over and beyond its manifest self; the poignancy of headlights under the storm; the details and flesh of our inner emotions; our imagined selves. I use the figure to convey the emptiness of a night, the blue solitude of being submerged.”

Osman grew up in Costa Rica but now her eyes turn to the western skies in Montana.

“The storm clouds that roll across the valley are powerful, orchestral and intangible,” she said. “They build above our oblivious lives reminding me of our relationship to mother nature as she diminishes our scale and makes us insignificant.”

Osman said she uses a combination of photographs, sketches and her inner eye to work out the composition and then builds up the physical presence of the image with strong blocks of color and tonal elements, making each shape pleasing to the eye and cohesive with the whole.

The Wedge Ceramics Studio presents selected works by studio artists from April 6 to July 13 in the Kirk Robertson Gallery. A reception for the artists will be May 4 from 5-7 p.m.