March 2020: William Liu & Dennis Peterson

William Liu is a watercolorist specializing in Southwest landscape painting. Slot Canyon is the subject for this show. “My family immigrated to the United States and I would be alienated from art for close to half of a century. But the love to relive hiking in the Southwest eventually brought me back to the original brushes I brought to the US. Painting scenery from slot canyons, arches and geological wonders of the southwest becomes a way for me to indulge in the hikes. These are virtual trips, of course. But selecting the family photos to watercolor and studying the techniques to recreate the picture bring me back every bit of fond memory and joy as the actual hikes.”  

 Dennis Peterson creates the surprising and intrinsic personalities of aged and decayed wood. The medium is oil on wood. “This work is my interpretation of the internal and external power and diversity that consumes those who enter the untouched influences of nature.” The title of the series is “The Center of Things” Peterson received his MFA from Portland State University (Oregon Honors Scholarship) and was instructor at PNCA, PSU and PCC.