BOUNTIFUL -- Sometimes it takes an artist's touch to show people the beauty of the world around them. Such touches can be found at the Bountiful/Davis Art Center (BDAC), which is currently hosting the Intermountain Society of Artists Group Show and the High School Student Statewide Photo Competition. Both exhibits are running now until June 8. "I am absolutely blown away by the quality of the artwork at these shows," said Rich Tuttle, programs coordinator at BDAC. "It's pretty striking."

Realism is given the most loving attention at the Intermountain Society show, which takes up the bulk of the galleries. Though wild flights of fancy are nowhere to be found, something subtler and more profound is on display in a zebra's wistful smile, or the play of light and shadow in a mountain forest.

Though landscapes of all colors, shapes and sizes are on display, an inescapable fact at any exhibit of Western artists, those at the ISA show seem to carry a special kind of magic.

Winter forests hang beside bright summer fields, and streams rush through a variety of hills and valleys. Pastels, oil and watercolor have combined to capture what seems to be every shade and tone of Southern Utah.

Many, including Duane Orchard's Reflections of Idaho, are richly and clearly detailed enough that observers who have traveled through similar scenes may experience a moment of deja vu. For those who haven't, the trip is just another canvas away.

Animals both wild and cuddly are also given loving attention at the exhibit. The cats lounging among the paintings are given fur so soft and detailed it appears to be almost touchable, and the zoo animals' faces reflect far more personality than can be seen on their real life counterparts.

Iletta Green's Truffles combines the best of both worlds. A portrait of a cat lounging among stirred-up autumn leaves, the animal slyly looks out at the audience as if wanting to let them in on a joke. You half expect the picture to wink.

Subtle humor crops up throughout the exhibit. The second place sculpture, a bronze by Mont L. Crosland titled How the West Was Really Won, simply shows a lone pioneer woman.

The first-place watercolor winner, Shirley Bailey's Gallery Stroll, shows an artist taking the practice one step further by setting her easel up in the local museum so that she can capture her inspiration firsthand.

Though the expression on the museum curator's face isn't clear, it's easy to presume that he's less than amused. Audience members, however, will be.

Reality is an even more direct inspiration for the work in the High School Student Statewide Photo Competition Exhibit. Here, however, it's the photos that reshape reality that most consistently draw the eye.

Vision is a major point of inspiration for Bountiful High student Elicia Sadler's first-place-winning Eye to I-17, where we see the city literally reflected through model's eye. In The Music Man, another first place winner by Bountiful High School student Kendra Wilmarth, color transforms a street musician into something out of a fairy tale.

"We're so excited to have been able to put this show together," said Frank Langheinrich, co-founder of the non-profit group Educational Photo Exhibits. "In the future we hope to be able to do many more and many larger shows."

It shouldn't be a problem. After all, there's an entire world waiting.



jwardell@davisclipper.com