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September Featured Artists
Rebecca LS Buchanan
Tilt, Rebecca Buchanan |
Tape: supporting, compressing, limiting and securing.
House: protection, our world.
Rebecca was one of only 15 teachers chosen nationwide to participate in a full year (2010-2011) mentorship program of Art 21: Contemporary Art, focusing on contemporary artists working today. She recently returned from participating in a 2 week painting and drawing intensive program at the School of the Art Institute, Chicago where she worked with contemporary museum curators, artists and teachers.
Rebecca returned from Chicago with a huge body of work using architecture, tape and color. She pushed herself to be more edgy and contemporary. Her theme is tape and house: the story is for the viewer. The tape and the colors are purposeful and respond to stories, told or untold, waiting to be unraveled.
Rebecca thinks of herself as being too normal, too responsible, too upstanding, too particular, but in her use of color, she has rebelled and responded to living life outside the boundaries, irresponsible and reckless. Color is her freedom from normalcy.
Penny Forrest
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Wanda 101, Penny Forrest
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Working on large canvases or boards, mainly with oil, Penny paints intensely colored pieces often inspired by nature, or the intersection of man and nature. These paintings are rich with color, depth and layers for the viewer to explore and question. After years of producing photo realistic renderings for engineers and architects she finds the pursuit of the abstract a sheer delight.
While always a painter, Penny's subject matter varies widely. Consequently she finds the idea of being labeled a figurative painter, a landscape painter or an abstract painter limiting. Instead she chooses to explore her various sources of inspiration by producing multiple pieces. Each piece leads her to the next, each grouping drives her towards the next body of work. Penny feels this allows her to fully explore her subject, while giving the freedom to solve the unique problems presented by each individual painting.
Gene Small
Gene is a naturalist at his core. He embellishes the natural materials in his furniture. He wants the viewer to know the nature of the materials, along with the tradition and centuries of service that comprise his Happiness Gourds.
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Wooden Stool, Etched and Dyed Happiness Gourds, Gene Small
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Gene's studio and surrounding areas are overflowing with inspiration. He rubs the pieces of wood while visualizing its future and cups the gourds in his hands, petting them like he does his cat. His furniture is made from locally rescued wood, such as Oregon Fir and driftwood, with each species identified for future owners. The candles Gene make travel around the world as visitors take them home from the Portland Saturday Market, where he participates most Saturdays.
The gourds are surprisingly labor intensive. Planting, nurturing, harvesting, drying and cleaning take months. Sawdust feeds the garden on The Small Farm he is creating and wood chips become mulch. Gene develops a connection with the gourds that ultimately affects the creative process.
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