All Wayne Mosbarger really wanted for Christmas was a job.

After losing his job in Helena more than a year ago, Mosbarger moved to the Flathead Valley hoping to find work and reconnect with family. His attempts at both have been largely unsuccessful, and in recent weeks, his situation has gone from bad to worse.

Mosbarger, 54, was forced to move out of the house in which he had planned to spend the winter and now is living out of his van with his dog. He spends his mornings hunting for work at Flathead Job Service and LC Staffing and the rest of his days trying to sell his original drawings and paintings to local businesses.

"What I want for Christmas is a decent job [so I can] get a place to live and paint," he said.

In the meantime, Mosbarger said, he and his art have found a "pretty warm reception" in Kalispell. A few businesses have bought drawings, and some restaurants have been willing to trade art for meals - or sometimes just give him dinner on the house.

"Most people, once they see the art, are really nice," he said.

MOSBARGER'S LOVE for art began as a child at St. Thomas Home, an orphanage and boarding school in Great Falls.

Mosbarger says he doesn't know why he and his younger brother ended up at St. Thomas. For some reason, his parents weren't able to care for them and none of their relatives in the Kalispell area could take them in.

At the orphanage, which was operated by the Sisters of Providence - now Providence Health and Services - Mosbarger studied academics and religion. He also remembers reading about Charlie Russell and studying the Montana artist's paintings.

He stayed at St. Thomas for about 10 years. When he turned 14, Mosbarger had to leave.

"You couldn't stay at the orphanage with the nuns when you hit a certain age," he explained.

He was headed for a juvenile detention center in Miles City when a man named Art, a local Scoutmaster, offered to take him in.

"He said, ‘He's a good kid. He can come stay with me,'" Mosbarger said. "Back then, foster kids didn't stay with single parents."

It was an experiment on the part of the state, he added. Two years later, the state proposed another experiment: A teen home was opening in a building that had been part of the orphanage, and state officials asked Mosbarger if he wanted to move in there.

He agreed and lived in the teen home until he finished high school a couple of years later. Then, he said, he stuck out his thumb and set out to see the country.

He made it all the way to Helena, where he married and had two daughters.

MOSBARGER supported his family by working in the construction field as a subcontractor doing trim, cabinetry and other artistry-type jobs. That work took him all over the country.

He found steady employment for a few years in the Gulf Coast area, repairing storm-damaged condos and doing other construction jobs. Then Hurricane Katrina hit, the construction industry tanked and work became scarce.

Mosbarger returned to Montana and found a job with an electronics firm in Helena. He kept that position for two years until he fell victim to corporate downsizing.

"I've been looking for decent, steady work ever since," he said.

After he sold most of his belongings to make ends meet, Mosbarger headed west to the Flathead, hoping to find long-lost family members and learn a little about his own history. At a farmers market in Helena, Mosbarger had run into a cousin who had given him names of relatives to look up.

But the meetings weren't the heartfelt reunion he'd hoped for, Mosbarger said.

"We had a nice chat, but there were no outstretched arms, no ‘welcome back to the family,'" he said.

He got by through camping and staying with friends. He drew and painted when he could, searched for jobs and hoped things would finally turn around.

INSTEAD, HIS situation grew shakier last month.

Mosbarger had been living in some friends' basement until a few weeks ago, when they decided they needed to rent the place out. That left him truly homeless for the first time in his life.

He still had his van, even if it was unreliable for driving any distance. A front wheel bearing is going out, and Mosbarger hasn't had enough money to pay for the repair.

Fear of breaking down has forced him to remain in the valley, even though his job hunt for the last year has been unsuccessful.

By selling his pen-and-ink drawings and acrylic landscape paintings, Mosbarger has managed to make enough money to keep gas in the tank and to feed himself and his Australian shepherd, Zip. A couple of sleeping bags in the vehicle keep them warm at night.

"I can't say it's the worst situation in the world," he said. "I see other people who don't have a van. It could be worse."

Mosbarger still hopes he might find a gallery to display his work. In the meantime, Tom Tyree has given him space to show a few pieces in the Smoke Haus Emporium at 1612 Montana 35 in Evergreen.

He also has continued to sell his work by persistently going door to door downtown.

"My priority has been to try and sell a painting or two so I can get my van repaired," he said. "If it's fixed ... I'll be able to look for work farther away."

Some of Mosbarger's pieces may be viewed online at fineartamerica.com/profiles/w-wayne-mosbarger.html. He may also be reached at the Smoke Haus Emporium, 755-6653.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by email at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.