Diana Neville Knowles offering portrait painting workshop in Kalispell

Bigfork artist Diana Neville Knowles will be teaching a pastel portrait painting workshop at Hobby Lobby in Kalispell.

Workshop classes will be held on Saturdays in June from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a one hour brown bag lunch break each day. Class dates are June 3, 10, 17 and 24. Interested students can attend an informational session and view the artwork of some of Knowles’ previous students, Saturday, May 27 at 2 p.m. in Hobby Lobby’s classroom.

Knowles sold her first portrait in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1952 and has since been commissioned to create more than 20,000 portraits that now hang across the world. Her portrait of former first lady Patricia Nixon is on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Knowles began teaching in 1976 in California before relocating to Montana. She taught her first Montana class in 2006. The classes are open to students of all ages.

There are only eight spaces available for this workshop and reservations will be taken at the informational session on May 27. For more information, call Knowles at 406-871-2770 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.