Jessie Wilbur (1912 - 1989) 

Gennie De Weese writes about her relationship and admiration of Jessie Wilbur as a fellow woman artist in her essay "An Appreciation:" Years ago when she and Frances were building their house on Sourdough Road just outside Bozeman, Jessie mixed up a little palette of putty colors to cover the nails in the cedar siding with the full range of subtle tones in a cedar board. The camouflage was so successful that, when the workmen arrived the next morning, one of them started renailing the boards, believing they had been missed. That exemplified her approach to visual problems! Gennie and Jessie's friendship began in 1949 and grew through Wilbur heading the Montana State College Art Department. Jessie loved the outdoors and gleaned it's essence by combining the language of her heart with elements of nature she later portrayed in landscapes. Her international travels were recorded in hundreds of sketches and often birthed exquisite prints. Largely a colorist, Jessie collected a range of papers from anything imaginable, insides of tax-receipt envelopes to unique Japanese samples. Open to change and evolving Jessie's work initially showed cubist origins, later impressionistic and then the maturity of experience. Musician, teacher, print, silhouette, and collage artist, Jessie lived to the fullest as a creator.