Paradise artist a true Renaissance man

By CHUCK BANDEL

Valley Press

Steve Eberhardt is a modern day Renaissance man living near Paradise!

His works of art, in many forms, have adorned buildings, signs, cars and much more throughout the region and world.

Among his memorable works was a request by an unknown client to create a depiction of a giant lotus flower for use in a mansion owned by a very notable artist in his own right.

The lotus flower was to be hung on top of a piece of art depicting a scene from the classic film St. George and the Dragon that hung from the ceiling of the mansion.

It was needed in 24 hours because the client was having a party the next evening and wanted to cover what he thought might be perceived by guests as an excessively violent piece of art.

He and a friend worked through the night to create the flower and got it done in time to deliver it to the site where the mysterious client watched from the shadows of the elegant home.

When it was done, the client stepped from the darkness and introduced himself to say he was very happy with the work, thanked Eberhardt and invited him to the party that night.

The client’s name…Prince. He was hosting an Oscar awards party in the mansion.

“He wanted to thank me for getting it done on time and doing such a good job,” Eberhardt said. “All I could think of to say was ‘Can I invite my girlfriend, she would be really upset if I didn’t at least ask?’”

Prince, he said, very graciously agreed.

Attending a party of that caliber is just one of the many ways Eberhardt’s love for and knowledge of art and his very skillful way to apply it has led to a very successful career.

“My Dad told me long ago that I should do something I really love doing,” he said from his home overlooking the snow-capped mountains southeast of Paradise. “That way, even if other things go bad, you can still be doing something you love.”

Eberhardt, who has lived and worked in many parts of the country and some places overseas in his quest to learn and grow as an artist, said he had always wanted to live in Montana.

While living and working in the Los Angeles area, he heeded the desires to escape further north each time he and his wife Lisa went on vacations.

They explored further and further north before one day visiting places above the California line. Fellow artists and co-workers, who had come to know and understand his artistic abilities, had often said he belonged in a scenic, less stressful place like the Big Sky Country.

“My wife was looking for a new job and used a professional head-hunter (employment specialist) to scour the region looking for opportunities.

One of the places that emerged was an opening with Clark Fork Valley Hospital where she could put her nursing skills and experience to work”.

She asked Steve if he would be open to moving to Montana.

“On her end of the phone she was asking me a question,” he said. “On my end of the phone I was silently screaming YES”.

He was steered toward art in his early teens, prompted by his Dad to find something he had a genuine interest in and felt he could be good at.

“I played all the high school sports,” he said. “I did basketball, football and other activities but they just didn’t seem to be what I wanted to do deep inside.”

A visit to a local college and a talk with an art instructor when he was 13 was one of the sparks that lit the artistic flame that has served him so well.

Known locally for his creative and beautiful airbrush designs, Eberhardt is much more than that.

While he continues to list airbrush work, where paint is sprayed through a fine air compressed nozzle onto a variety of surfaces, as one of his favorite forms of art, his life long venture has taken many different courses through the realm that which is art.

One of his most recent exhibitions of artistic talent was painting the stretch “Trump limousine” that made an appearance at the impromptu patriot parade put together last month by the VFW.

“Some of my friends and I were out having a few beers and checking things out on line,” he said. “We saw that limo for sale for $1,000 and agreed it was something we had to have.”

Of course, that prompted one of the owners to suggest Eberhardt work his artistic magic on the vehicle with short notice before the parade through Plains.

He got it done in time and it quickly became the talk of the parade and the town.

While airbrush and painting are his favorites, Eberhardt said he tries to explore as many different forms of artistic expression as he can.

Evidence of that can be found throughout his home and workshop where the walls are adorned with everything from “relief” style works, to drawings and paintings of a wide variety of subject.

His office is another example. There he has created the signs that recently went up welcoming visitors to Plains.

A similar sign is in the finishing stages to welcome visitors to Paradise, a work featuring a locomotive and train honoring the railroading role that created the town years ago.

Not even a catastrophic fire that destroyed his shop on New Years’ Day of this year could detour, or for that matter slow down, his quest for more art knowledge and abilities.

“The shop I had burned to the ground that day,” he said of the building adjacent to his home. “It apparently was caused by a faulty space heater. Fortunately it did not spread to the house, we were lucky in that way.”

Gone, however, were a vast collection tools, both power and art related, along with an irreplaceable collection of art and art-related documents and other files of pieces of art.

One of the things that remained was a section of branches that he had woven into an arched entry way at the entrance to the old shop. That section sits just inside the door of the new shop that has replaced the one that was destroyed and the branches will become part of a new, more elaborate portico.

“That fire was not a good way to start a new year,” he said. “Losing those tools and other things was hard to deal with. I told a friend it was like someone stole all my underwear and didn’t leave a thank you note.”

But in the spirit of Renaissance, Eberhardt moved on and continues to produce drawings, painting, murals and sculptures for a variety of clients, including the California based Chuy’s Tex-Mex restaurant chain.

“True Renaissance artists, like da Vinci, Michelangelo and Donatello were not just painters or sculptors,” he said. “They were the whole art ball of wax and that’s something I have always admired.”

Other art forms he has explored and mastered include many of a digital nature, including special effects projects for movies and other computer assisted forms of graphic design.

His projects have included work on such things as the wand used in Harry Potter movies and costume masks worn by Val Kilmer during his portrayals in the Batman movies.

“I think an artist has to be able to think outside of the box,” Eberhardt said. “That’s what Renaissance is all about.”

In the coming days, Eberhardt says he has plans to create and teach art-related classes from his new studio, which he hopes to have ready shortly after Christmas.

Most of all, he and Lisa plan to enjoy the beauty of their new home.

“I can’t imagine ever leaving Montana,” he said. “I want to create a studio right here that is like no other art studio in this region.”

With the drive and talent he possesses, few would doubt his plans.