Imagination captured

POST FALLS – For 30 years, watercolor artist Helen Stephenson watched tugboats come and go on Lake Coeur d’Alene.

She had a good vantage point as office manager for the lake’s tugboat company during those years.

The boats so captured her imagination that she began painting tugboat scenes in her own style of realism.

Today, her art is available both as originals and limited-edition prints at Angel Gallery, 423 Sherman Ave., in Coeur d’Alene.

With the decline of the forest industry in North Idaho, the use of tugs on Lake Coeur d’Alene has fallen, too, and the future of tugboat operations has become something of an open-ended question, Stephenson said. For now, the tug company has branched out into lakeside construction to maintain its business.

“It’s a passing of an era,” Stephenson said. “I really enjoyed being part of it while it was there.”

She began her painting 25 years ago with landscapes mainly. When Foss Maritime took over the tug company in 1993, it began sponsoring an art competition for its company calendar. Stephenson ended up getting her work published twice on tug calendars for her winning entries.

Her work is characterized by extremely detailed brush strokes done in a heavy opaque watercolor style. “I use my watercolors almost like oil,” she said.

One of the paintings is a detailed depiction of the 650-horsepower Florence Lee on the lake. The original and limited-edition prints in two sizes are available at Angel Gallery.

She’s done at least 50 paintings over the years, many of which showcase the lake and its working history. They include historic scenes of steamboat operations at Coeur d’Alene and Harrison in the early 1900s.

The paintings are based on photographs, either contemporary or historical, that Stephenson uses as the models for her work.

She has captured contemporary scenes of the Louise H and Potlatch tugs and a historical view of the Georgie Oakes on the St. Joe River about 1900.

One of her more personal pieces is a painting of her brother, Jerry Taylor of Post Falls, on a bike coming out of a tunnel on the Trail of the Hiawatha on Taylor’s 80th birthday one year ago.

Another painting of a hobo known as Oklahoma Slim in a rail camp was reproduced for a trail marker on the Centennial Trail near the U.S. Highway 95 bridge across the Spokane River.

She studied under Michele Valentine, a private art teacher in North Idaho, and has traveled with Valentine to France in a group of aspiring artists.

“I love her art,” said Pat Kovatch, owner of Angel Gallery. “It’s so nostalgic of the area.”

Born in Caldwell, Idaho, Stephenson grew up in the Umpqua Valley of southwest Oregon and lived in Alaska before moving to North Idaho 30 years ago. She currently lives in Post Falls.

Stephenson initially went to work for the Lafferty family, which had founded the tugboat company. Eventually, the company became Brix Maritime and then Foss Maritime prior to its current ownership as North Idaho Maritime. Stephenson retired in 2005.

Stephenson and her husband, Irving, also ran a store called Wild Birds Unlimited prior to their retirement.

“I was amazed when I came here and found tugboats inland,” she said.