Seeing the big picture with mural artist at ND State Fair | News, Sports, Jobs

Celebrated watercolor painter and mural artist, Nancy Balyeat, is working hard this week on a custom mural for the newly named Roughrider Arena building in the West Park of the North Dakota State Fair.

“It’s interesting to paint something you can’t see,” Balyeat said, referring to how it can be difficult to view the entire image of a large-scale mural painting when working on the close-up details.

Balyeat must periodically take breaks and step away from the mural, walking far enough back so she can view the mural in its entirety. She then compares her work from a distance with her reference materials, making adjustments as needed to better align the details and forms with the perspective of the whole image.

“I do it at the fairs for entertainment because people don’t get to see murals done. You come in and all of a sudden (murals) are there,” Balyeat said, emphasizing the importance of showcasing how large-scale mural art is achieved by artists.

The McDonald farm mural on the side of the Rough Rider Arena on the North Dakota State Fairgrounds was painted by Nancy Balyeat 18 years ago.

“Which is why we put (benches) out here so people can watch her create,” said Char Ratliff, marketing director for the State Fair.

The State Fair installed benches in the grass facing the Roughrider Arena building for visitors to sit and observe Balyeat’s mural-making processes.

The mural will reflect the purpose of the newly named Roughrider Arena, which is to showcase animals. The building was previously known as the Discovery Center and hosted various activities and even mini-golf, which has since been moved outdoors.

On the side of the Roughrider Arena building is a mural of a red barn and various farm animals, including horses, chickens, cows and pigs. The mural sits behind Daryl’s Racing Pigs, a family-fun event and staple of the State Fair for the last several decades.

Balyeat recalled painting the farm animal mural around 18 years ago. “It’s still got a few more years of life to it,” Balyeat said.

Balyeat began painting murals in 2004 but has a long history of doing watercolor paintings as well. “I did 20 years as a watercolor artist. I traveled everywhere from Seattle to Miami and sold my paintings,” she said.

“Bob was my promoter, he booked all of my shows, and marketed all of my work,” Balyeat said about her husband who has been by her side since she was 18 years old. “He preps and cleans up, manages, gets me where I need to be, and moves everything so I don’t have to go up and down,” Balyeat said from atop the lift she was on.

Balyeat does most of her mural painting while standing on the ground, using a 14-foot long paint roller to reach the higher parts of the walls. For this mural, however, Balyeat also utilized a lift for part of her work so she could paint the ceiling of the building overhang while using a smaller roller.

“This overhang is really hard to paint,” Balyeat said. “I think the hardest (surface) I’ve ever done is corrugated steel siding.” The Roughrider Arena is built out of corrugated steel, which can be a challenging surface for painting two-dimensional works on.

“So if you look at the McDonald’s farm on the other side (of the Roughrider Arena) that I painted, I had to deal with the distortion. Close-up it looks really weird,” Balyeat said. “You can’t see what you’re doing. You have to get back. You have to paint and then get back and then go up again.”

Balyeat’s preferred mural materials are flat surfaces and acrylic paint. Balyeat is using oil paints for the Roughrider Arena however.

“It’s quality paint made for this job,” she said. Balyeat likes to have the colors she plans to use for murals custom made.

“I have three pans and I actually paint with three colors at once. So I blend medium, light and dark of whatever I’m working on. I’ll sometimes add a little splash of a highlight or shadows from other colors,” Balyeat said about her color process while painting.

“I had my first (art) job doing charcoal portraits at the World’s Fair in Spokane, Washington, (1974) when I was 16. So I’ve been doing professional art since I was 16,” Balyeat said.

According to Balyeat, it was her dream to be an artist since she was a young girl. This dream has since been realized time and time again with Balyeat’s successful, wide-spanning art career encompassing everything from watercolors, to illustrations, to children’s books, to murals, and even a successful songwriting career with her family’s band, The Balyeats.

Balyeat will be working on the mural throughout the entire week of the State Fair. “I’m shooting for having (the mural) done by the last day. … I’m trying to do eight hours a day, so about 88 hours,” she said. “It goes slow and fast all at the same time.”