Eberhardts enjoying Sanders County surroundings

Steve Eberhardt has created tens of thousands of images during his 45-year career as an artist, and he’s just getting warmed up.

He and his wife of 20 years, Lisa, have lived just east of Paradise since moving from southern California about three years. And they have found western Montana to be truly a “paradise.”

Steve — who works in charcoal, acrylics and water colors — is in a profession where he can take it anywhere with him, and he and Lisa are fitting in nicely in Sanders County.

They auctioned off a couple of yet-to-be-created caricatures during the Sanders County Arts Council’s Bunkhouse, Beans and Bacon event March 9 at the VFW in Thompson Falls. The first of the two drawings was recently completed. It shows a nice depiction of local resident “Chelsea” (see the caricature with this article).

Steve said Lisa has identified at least three local events where he will be airbrushing T-shirts. During upcoming Plains Days, the Eberhardts will be hosting an interactive mural in the downtown park. That is so youngsters can experience painting a mural “in public.” Plans are to move the mural to be on display at the Paradise Arts Center (the former Paradise School) later this summer.

AS A WORLD traveler during his remarkable career in imagery, over the years Steve and Lisa worked with Disney, Stetson, Tyson Chicken and Seagram’s 7 Crown as major clients — doing preliminary artwork for their advertising campaigns. Steve worked with Jim Beam Bourbon doing their annual float for the Derby Day Parade in Louisville, Kent. While there, he was retained by the Museum of History and Science as an exhibit designer, and one of his “side clients” was Louisville Slugger, the baseball bat company, assisting with ad designs. Steve also worked with the Churchill Downs PR department developing promotional campaigns. He also taught classes in illustration.

The Eberhardts moved to Los Angeles, Calif., about 20 years ago.

“We worked with several ‘effects’ companies — making models and props for movie companies like Paramount and Disney, and gaming companies such as the city they built for them to ‘set on fire’ and film for a video game called Socom 4.

“We also made ‘master wands’ from the Harry Potter movies for the Noble Collection, which is a prop collection company that vends movie-quality props used in movies like Harry Potter, Indiana Jones and Batman.”

Steve said they also built and produced capes for the Batman and Riddick movies, plus Harry Potter and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

What a resume for the Eberhardts, most compiled during their ongoing 20-year marriage. Assisting Steve has been more or less a hobby for Lisa, since she has been in the nursing profession for many years. She is currently the nursing director at Clark Fork Valley Hospital in Plains.

RECENTLY, STEVE has been finishing a big job with his son Billy, who lives back East. Early in the project, Steve completed 27 drawings during a two-day span. Billy works for a promotion company doing designs for exhibits. One of his daughters works with video effects products, and another is into photography for the Houston Astros baseball team.

“Those kids make me feel like Forrest Gump,” Steve laughed. “‘Life is like a box of chocolates — You never know what’s you’re gonna get.’”

Steve and Lisa have been around the block a time or two, Steve before they were married and both of them since. There were two years in London, England, where Steve was painting. On the beach in the southeast U.S. A winter in Hawaii, and in Sydney, Australia, for Christmas.

Steve talked about his biggest compliment since he’s been in Sanders County. A friend said, “They (California) can’t have you back, you’re ours! We’re keeping you … We’ve discussed it!”