Dianne Jean Erickson says it best about her paintings: “Each day working in my studio I start not knowing what image will emerge. I allow myself the freedom of indecisions, improvisations, and impulsiveness in my work, and that leads to exciting discoveries. Subjects of my paintings vary depending on ideas that arise. I use multiple mediums including, but not limited to encaustic, acrylic, oil and cold wax. I’m impatient by nature, my process is intuitive, I most enjoy the journey of creating, figuring out what works; what to keep, and what to abandon, until the piece works for me. I have no compulsion to save every work I do, and many become the layered history for a new piece. Creating art energizes me, it’s a place where time is altered, where all my feelings and emotions appear at some time or another; pleased, tired, upbeat, excited, harried, surprised, and hopefully at some point, satisfied.”

Rose Covert uses natural materials to weave sculptural forms. Using reimagined basketry techniques, Rose creates woven landscapes that twist and travel around themselves. Her work is evocative of the natural world they are created from. They hold an element of dance and movement in their shapes and pull the viewer in with their dynamic tensions. She is a longtime Portland resident who has fallen in love with the rich plant life that grows here. Rose works entirely with plants that grow within a 60 mile radius of Portland, some of her work is comprised of plants she grows herself and the rest are from plants she either tends or harvests from on a regular basis. She finds inspiration in the natural world, the exquisiteness of elemental forms and landscapes, as well as the habitats the plants grow in. Her work is a continuation of the beauty of the natural world; her work allows us to bring the allure of nature into our homes. Rose’s process begins with planting or harvesting the plants her sculptures are made from and ends in exploration and design as she weaves the forms.