Name To A Face: Laurell Ovitt, Nature's Artist

Laurell Ovitt is best known for her gorgeous original artwork, which she sells at the Whitehall Farmers Market and around town. However, there is much more to her than just her art.

Laurell is a 4th generation Montana native who originally grew up in Dillon; her grandmother lived in Bannack. She is very close to her sister, who helps with selling her art.

Laurel attended high school in Dixon where there were only 25 kids; after graduating high school she went to college not once, but twice. In Missoula she received her Associates in Forestry; she then received a BA in Science at Montana State University.

Her life has been filled with Montana's natural world; she has always worked with it.

While she lived at Yakama camp she worked for the logging industry where she helped the industry with seismic activity. In the 70's she turned her career towards dam inspection.

She has built houses at the Boise Cascade and been a government civil engineer on the Kountz Bridge in 1996, which is when she settled in Whitehall. Her residency here at Whitehall for 25 years has been the longest she has ever stayed anywhere. The community has always been a big influence on her; her parents instilled community importance in her since she was a little girl. She has strived to be an active member in the community ever since.

When it comes to her artwork she has one saying that has driven her art over the years.

"Everyone should own a piece of original art."

It is one of the reasons why her rock slab paintings have become so popular to her and the community. Every single slab is its own original design influenced by the color and patterns in the stone. All of her art is influenced by nature or farm living and has been that way since high school when she lived near a bison range.

She only started making money off her art when she was in college. Now, however, she does her art to do the art and whatever she sells helps buy more art supplies to continue the art. She does not do it for the money.

The idea of painting on rock seemed to come naturally to her since she has always been a rockhound. Laurell is even a part of the Butte Gem and Mineral Club. She has always loved rocks, but she enjoys them more with her found fascination with fossils and the frozen history it represents. She loves the idea she is the first human in billions of years to have seen any of the fossils she finds. She can tell a story just by observing the details in the fossil.

Laurell Ovitt is an amazing local artist who is community driven. She has learned much over the years with the help of the natural world and her community. She believes the local art in our town, including the murals, should be restored and preserved for future generations to enjoy.