Hi-Line Living: Pencil and Paper

Don Greytak, a local artist who is well-known in Montana, especially eastern Montana, and parts of the nation, spent decades perfecting his art, though he would modestly argue that "perfect" is not the word for it.

He creates many pieces in the span of a year, and every year, he has work that is accepted into the C.M. Russell Museum annual art auction. He has joined the ranks of a group of artists who recreate the history of the nation through their respective mediums.

Greytak creates his images through pencil and paper, and the results are uncannily accurate.

Greytak, 78, who has been a full-time artist since 1976, started his art career as a metal sculptor. One of his sculptures - a tractor being used for farm work - is on display at the Old Library Gallery. He quit his job in 1976 in order to put more time into his sculptures and for about a year and a half, he did just that. Then, in 1978, he experienced a major change in his passion for art.

"I had my sculpture in

Washington, in Spokane, at an art show and somebody was doing pencil work," Greytak said. "A woman - I don't remember her and I don't remember what she did, but whatever it was, it made me think 'I ought to try that.'"

Around 36 years later, he stood in the Old Library Gallery, wearing a Scotch cap, surrounded by dozens of his original drawings that capture various scenes of Americana - depictions of farm life, rodeos, families and so on. Many of the scenes take place in recognizable Montana landscapes, due to one of Greytak's rules of thumb: to illustrate only what he knows.

"I want to draw something I know something about that's kind of close to my background," Greytak said. "I don't get very far away from things I know about or grew up with or heard stories about. Obviously, a person can do something better if you know the subject matter."

Greytak was born and raised in Montana. He spent much of his youth on a farm about 45 miles northwest of Havre, near the Canadian border, farming and raising cattle. He has experienced or seen most of the subjects he draws. His depictions of airplanes are reminiscent of his days as an aviation enthusiast and pilot; the depictions of rodeos from his time spent with family and friends participating in them.

"You can ask a question about any piece, and I can tell you why I wanted to do it," Greytak said, "why it's important that I would do it because it has something to do with my background."

The drawings are intricately detailed and many capture everything that would be present in a photograph of the same scene.

He said he has a hard time explaining why he does what he does and what he gets from it.

"I just wanted to do something that had some feeling to it," he said. " ... Through art, you can express yourself. A person can express themselves in a way that is pretty hard to do otherwise. For me, anyway. ... I like doing it or I wouldn't do it. It's kind of like somebody who's an author. You do it because you have to. It's there to do."

When mountaineer George Mallory, who took part in expeditions to Mount Everest, was asked why he climbed the mountain, he famously replied, "Because it's there." Greytak arguably embodies a similar passion toward his art and has been putting himself into it for decades. One could argue that while capturing the history of Montana, he captures his own past when he puts his pencil to paper.