Florence artist Elloie Jeter is inspired by landscapes
Originally published in the Ravalli Republic and written by Michelle McConnaha on April 18, 2021
Florence pastel artist Elloie Jeter has always been interested in art.
“I’ve been doing art since I was a kid and never lost interest in it,” Jeter said. “I never outgrew it.”
She started taking painting classes at age 9 and “never stopped.” She took art classes in high school, majored in art in college at several California colleges, resulting in a Bachelor of Arts from San Diego State University. She has enjoyed a fulfilling career in the art industry.
As a side note, she did spend a year of college focused on horse production about breeding, training, shoeing and caring for them. She has always owned horses and still enjoys them.
Jeter said she has many inspirations for her art.
“I am just fascinated by the making, I am a hands-on person,” she said. “I started in painting, then in college and for my degree, my emphasis was in sculpture. Anything that sounded interesting was something I tried to pursue and the spontaneity never stopped.”
She threw clay, designed furniture, cast bronze and sculptured in clay, plaster and Plexiglas. Post-graduate she learned to blow glass and do photography with darkroom work.
“I loved it all,” Jeter said. “Now I am focused on painting.”
She grew up in California but when she moved to Montana in 1980, she settled on painting and pottery, specifically landscapes. After moving to Montana, her painting studies continued through workshops with several well-known artists, particularly Richard McKinley. She has participated in regional and national exhibiting and earned numerous awards.
“I’ve done a lot of portrait work and still life work over the years but these days I really am focused on the landscapes,” Jeter said. “Landscapes speak to me. I’m a nature lover, I’m an outdoor person so it just seems to be a natural thing.”
Montana is the inspiration for her landscape paintings, especially the drama of the ever-changing weather, the changes that come with the seasonal extremes and the light on the amazing mountainous landscape.
“It all captivates my attention from sunrise to sunset,” Jeter said.
After years of plein air painting, she now does most of her work in her studio.
“I have so much work to do around here that I just can’t take that kind of time anymore,” Jeter said.
She said being a land and horse owner is a full-time job.
“It’s awfully nice to settle in a place that I love,” she said. “It doesn’t get much better than that.”
She said the COVID pandemic has not changed her production or artwork because most of her work of art and caring for horses is solitary.
“So, in a lot of ways, I was not terribly impacted,” she said. “I still did riding and hiking as access to the out-of-doors didn’t change.”
She noted that one change was the cancellation of the Artists Along the Bitterroot normal June studio tour last year. The AAB tours are an invitation to the public from participating artists to visit their creative spaces, see their tools and work studios, and hear about their process and inspiration.
“That’s one of my primarily selling venues,” she said. “We did do the September tour and I had no idea if people were brave enough to come out, but they did, and it was quite wonderful.”
The year, the Artists Along the Bitterroot are planning on hosting their twice-a-year studio tours from Lolo to Darby, June 4 – 6 and Sept. 10-12. For more information on AAB visit artistsalongthebitterroot.com/ and for more on Jeter visit elloiejeter.com.
Jeter said many valley residents do make the drive to see her studio which is just south of Florence and right on the highway. Visitors see her working studio and because she uses most of her house as a gallery space, she invites people into her home beyond just the studio area.
She said being an artist has been wonderful.
“I love being an artist,” she said. “I’m basically a shy person so it has been a real transition to do public tours. But I’ve been doing them long enough that I’m finally adjusting.”
