“My work is a record of my dialogue with the external world. Everything that I experience influences my paintings. Scenes have been set into my memory which develop into images that take on their own forms. They start from allowing shapes to develop, change and grow. They are constantly changing, I scrape, draw, redraw, adding paint and layers of texture to build on what was there, hiding underneath. They have a life of their own, and I am just the catalyst for its evolution. The final image is a dialogue between me, the images and in the end the viewer.”
]]>The Day of the Dead Show at the Gallery is Portland's interpretation of the popular Mexican Day of the Dead celebration of life and remembrance of those who passed. Local artists were challenged to make art inspired to commemorate our ancestors and departed loved ones. The art works ranges from whimsical to painfully personal to celebrating this Latino tradition in their own personal way.
Participating Artists: Autumn Anglin, Scot Cameron-Bell, Kirsten Page Bennett, Dave Benz, Stephanie Brockway, Nora Brodnicki, Teal Buehler, Matt Burlingame, Shelly Caldwell, Richard Cutshall, Jennifer Gillia Cutshall, James Dowlen, Gene Flores, Preston Frase, Teo Guardino, Jen & Iver Hennig, Wayne Jiang, Marcia Jeglum, Janet Julian, Mavis Leahy, Wendy Wallin-Malinow, Hickory Mertsching, Mateo Neivert, Gail Owen, Michael Pratt, Thomas Rude, Frank Salcido, Elizabeth Shupe, Kate Simmons, Mike Wellins, Anna Wiancko-Chasman, Robyn Williams, Cathie Joy Young, Rachael Young, Kia Zora
]]>This body of work concerning the Columbia River Gorge and Pacific Coast comes from a deeply personal place living in Portland and Vancouver, Washington most of my life. My grandfather worked on stern-wheelers ferrying goods from Portland to The Dalles. My dad and his brothers fished the river from the banks as young boys and on into adulthood. Salmon was so frequently served at our dinner table my sister and I, as children will do, groused, and complained “not again!”. I grew up in the Kenton district of North Portland and recall vividly the “dawn chorus” of songbirds in our neighborhood. So loud was the trilling at dawn it would awaken me. I remember trying to drown out the cacophony by placing a pillow over my ears to catch a few more minutes of sleep before heading off to Kenton School in 1955. So much has changed since then. As our environment continues to degrade, I rarely notice the sounds of nature anymore. Gone is the raucous “morning chorus” from songbirds of my youth. Rachel Carson predicted this in her landmark book “Silent Spring,” published in 1962. The truth of her research was born out in my lifetime in and around North Portland and Vancouver. These personal observations have prompted me to dedicate this body of work to the Portland Audubon Wildlife Center. A portion of my sales will go to the Center.
]]>Cheryl Quintana is a self-taught ceramic sculptor who lives in the Pacific NW. A native of the Midwest, her sculptures reflect a love of all thing’s animal, including the occasional barnyard variety. On January 3, 2017, Cheryl Quintana said “Goodbye!”, to the corporate world, picked up a 25-pound bag of clay, and started teaching herself to sculpt.Never once regretting this decision, the artist now aspires to constantly evolve her ceramic sculptures and hopes to reach her audience through her work. “My evolution into a ceramic sculptor came into being because of my captivation with the process of changing an inanimate 25-pound bag of clay into sculptures that come alive! Working with a limited set of tools, with drive, passion, and dedication, I strive to bring life, joy and happiness into each sculpture that I create. I’m realizing my enchanted world, one sculpture at a time. All the sculptured animals that you see in this show are created using mid-range clay, glazes and interactive pigments. The sculptures are fired in an electric kiln, from two to three times, depending upon the final effect desired. Each piece is a hand-made original, no molds are used in the process, which keeps my sculptural creation & exploration thriving!”
]]>“I always try and make paintings with fantasy elements in them. Paintings are a great venue for all the endless, absurd possibilities of the mind. I enjoy making silly, weird, and even cute paintings. Also, I have loved painting and drawing animals since childhood; they play a big part in my paintings to this day.”
]]>“Melting Pot – Vessels” for Unity is a blending of both materials and techniques. These baskets and vessels hold dear all that intertwines the values and truths of an equitable society. They combine my love of glass and fiber to highlight the richness of diversity as represented by food, culture, and regions of the world. The commonality of our shared endeavors binds us into an ever-greater melting pot. Technique: The bases of the baskets and vessels are made of glass using a high-temperature kiln firing technique called ‘pot melts’ to blend the glass colors. Traditional basket-weaving techniques are used to weave each vessel such as over/under, twining, and diamond stitch. Materials: Mixed Media glass and fiber. Glass: stringer, frit and sheet glass. “Fiber: flat and round reed, yarn, beads, and other embellishments.
]]>A Toy themed show created for the delight of both children and adults.
It’s time for a smile with our third annual group Toy Show. Carefully curated artist offer handmade dolls, mechanical sculptures, puppets & paintings. Expect surprises!
27 participating artists include: Jackie Avery, Alison Berkey, Stephanie Brockway, Matt Burlingame, Evan Burnette, Chris Cole, Ronald Conrad, James Dowlen, Cynthia Hipkiss, Wayne Jiang, Alicia Justus, Sylvan Terill Ketcham, Zoe Larson, Mavis Leahy, Jackie McIntyre, Wendy Wallin Malinow, Hickory Mertsching, Melissa Monroe, Kim Murton, Gail Owen, Susan Opie, Thomas Rude, Rodney Stuart, Karen Thurman, Tim Timmerman & Robyn Williams.
]]>“Light and Movement” This body of work explores the intersection of light, movement, and painterly techniques. “My oil paintings offer an blend of abstract realism, capturing everyday experiences in a dynamic and expressive way. I play with light and shadow to create depth and drama. In some pieces, I use bold strokes and heavy impasto to convey movement and energy, while in others, I build up layers of color to create a sense of atmosphere and mood. One of my favorite subjects to paint is musicians, and you'll see several pieces in which I've tried to capture the rhythm and soul of live performance. I strive to capture the energy and emotion of these moments. Another recurring theme in my work is busy kitchen scenes, which allow me to explore the interplay of light, texture, and color in a more intimate setting. Whether it's the warm glow of a stovetop and a steamy kitchen. I aim to create a sense of depth and richness that draws the viewer in. By blending the techniques of abstract and realist art, I aim to create a style that is both contemporary and timeless, capturing the beauty and complexity of everyday life in all its many forms.”
]]>Bricolage is "the remixture, reconstruction, and reuse of separate materials or artifacts to produce new meanings and insights." Dan Pillers is a storyteller, a conceptual artist and a bricoleur. He conveys emotion, social awareness, and personal memories through carefully selected artifacts encapsulated within elaborate, hand-crafted, vitrines. The way he elevates the, often mundane, object, opens the door for expanded imaginings and possibilities of thought. The “raw material” he uses are remnants of things gone by. These add a level of familiarity as well as a heightened sense of history. Through a painstaking process of deconstructing, reimagining, and assembling random objects Dan creates beautiful, yet provocative, works of art. Each piece tells its own story and when placed together they become a visual memoir and continuing segments of an ongoing dialog. By creating works that incorporated a wide range of previously used and salvaged material, artifacts and text he conveys his world view, while simultaneously limiting his "carbon footprint". His hope is that his work will prompt an open and honest dialog and lead to a deeper understanding of one another and respect for the world that we share.
]]>In her trajectory towards the realization of her artistic identity, Blackwell has indeed followed her own winding path, led by the call of the medium she found along the way. She has traveled far from her practice of decorating interior spaces, to her rendering of the exterior landscape, and finally calling upon these images of the land to render what is truly internal. Blackwell’s work expresses a longing for beauty, joy, and serenity, and evokes the mysterious path we all must follow to find them.
]]>This collection of paintings is loosely based on characters from the Winnie the Pooh stories and the untamable nature of children and animals. Each of the characters in A.A. Milne’s Pooh series is beset with their own set of ticks and neuroses that make them endearing as characters. (Rabbit with his OCD or Eeyore’s chronic depression, ect.) Children and their wild imagination and their yet untamed nature endear us in a similar way. The paintings in this show play with these themes.
]]>"I created an enchanting & unusual world where animals and unusual charachters come to life! From giant flying bee sculptures to a deer, rabbit and bird to name a few. Some of the pieces are interactive , using one of a kind found objects built into sculptures. My goal is to dazzle, make people smile and wonder 'How did she do that?'"
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