Kristine Abero ('11 ), recent graduate in art history, has been hired full time as Guest Service Agent at the Portland Art Museum.

Jasmine Swisher, Mouse, medium-format photography

 Jasmine Swisher ('07) Since graduating in 2007 with a BA in Printmaking has continued to create and exhibit her printmaking as well as Photography. She had her art exhibited in group shows around the world including:Pont Aven France, Derby UK, Bronx NY, Seattle WA, Naestved Denmark, Astoria OR, Ames IA, Asheville NC and so on. In addition to printmaking, Jasmine does photography as well. Her website contains both media, however, she has been focusing mostly on equine photography since graduating. "Animals have always been important to me so it is no surprise that I am now doing portraits of people and their pets," she says. While photography has been keeping her busy, she intends to continue carving wood blocks, screen-printing and mixing media as well. Visit http://jasmineswisher.jimdo.com

 Michael Endo ('06), who has a BA in art from PSU and went on to earn an MFA at Cranbrook, had an installation at the Portland Building, "Et in Arcadia Ego," thru August 26. He is currently employed at Bullseye Glass in Portland.

 Patrick McKenna ('02) "Since graduation, now 10 years ago, my life has been balanced by an active retirement on one hand and a design project that has been years in development requiring a significant cap investment to bring it to fruition.  In the meantime, I have enjoyed good health and traveling while making best of our La Nina winters, the summers have provided the best of hiking, camping and motorcycling around our beautiful Northwest. I'm planning a trip next spring to Spain, Germany, Italy and Greece primarily to tour the various arts and architecture formerly studied while in PSU and before.  My stepson produces music in Berlin, and I'd certainly like to visit with him as well as tour the POW camp my dad was interned in Stalig Luft 1, in the Baltic region. My aunt Helen, who taught PE on an American airbase in Hannau, Germany took me on a tour of the Bavaria region in '92, and as she drove the Autobahn in her 3 cylinder VW Polo as I grimaced in freight as Porsches and Bimmers zoomed by at light speed.  On my Bucket List, to rent a Porsche 911 and go kinda schnell." 

Patrick continues, "I was tickled to hear that the Architecture Department has been granted the long sought after masters degree program and that Professor Clive Knights is now the Department Chair.  Bravo on both counts. Since those important years in Portland State University, my desire to absorb new knowledge is like the universe as it not only expands, but accelerates.  I'm very grateful for the dedication of all the instructors I experienced. 'It was a slice', and much more."

 Rebekka Rudin ('00) sends greetings from Basel, Switzerland. She is excited to share that as of September 1, she is Partner Assistant to Ascan Mergenthaler, Senior Partner, at Herzog & de Meuron in Basel. Among his projects is the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Tate Modern in London, and the Parrish Art Museum on Long Island, NY.  

 Daniel Shea ('99) recently curated a veteran art show, The Tenacity of Hope, which was exhibited at the Littman Gallery at PSU in August (Portland Observer article).

VFP National Convention 2011 Art and Music. Tenacity of Hope video

Daniel also was invited to sit on the national board of Veterans For Peace. "I consider it a great honor to serve with such a distinguished organization for peace and justice." Daniel is active with the VFP Agent Orange working groups and speaks locally and internationally on AO and Veterans Issues. He was also a participant in a documentary called The Welcome, which has received great reviews across the country and in The Oregonian. Daniel's poetry, along with those from veterans in the Welcome Home Project, was published through Mosaic Voices in a book titled Voices of Vets: A Bridge Back to the World. Daniel says, "I continue to write poetry, paint and draw and make art not only as a path to healing for myself but for humanity to confront its ills, to heal and plan for a better future." Click here for a PDF file of the poem/exhibit statement for the Tenacity of Hope a Veterans Art Exhibit.

Gilles Foisy, Drop of Lil II, wood, cotton rope, artist's ink, copper, patina, propeller, 2011

 Gilles Foisy ('96) will be having a solo sculpture show at Butters Gallery in November. The show is titled Alchemical Angels Alchemical Angles. Most of the pieces are based on the alchemists' idea of the Divine Water, or Mercury of the Philosophers, or as the Sumerian called it Lil.Gilles says, "The pieces represent drops of Lil flying down from heaven toearth, like alchemical angels, to vivify and fructify the earth."He will also be showing a collaborative video titled "PROCESS ALCHEMY". Literally 40 years in the making, it presents a deep exploration of the alchemical process of transformation and transmutation.  

Elise Wagner, Remnant III, 2011 48" x 24" encaustic and oil on birch

 Elise Wagner ('95) was invited to have a solo exhibition entitled Manifesting the Scientific Unseen at the Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. The exhibition coincides with an exciting lecture, "Quantum & Creative Connections" with physicist James O'Brien and art historian Ronald Bernier about the relationship between science and art and specifically Wagner's work. The lecture will be in the Blount Auditorium 3:30 - 5:00 pm on Tuesday, October 11 followed by an artist reception, remarks and catalogue signing with Wagner in the Caselia Gallery at Wentworth in Annex Central 5:00 - 7:00 pm. The Caselia Gallery is located at 550 Parker Street, Boston. 

Cindy Lommasson, Gentle Giant, sumi ink on textured rice paper, 2011

 Cindy Lommasson ('84) (formerly Cindy Schumock) is happy

to announce that one of her bamboo sumi-e paintings, "Gentle Giant," was selected and was included in the Professional Division of the All Oregon Art Annual in Salem.  This annual exhibit ran from August 26 through September 5, in conjunction with Oregon State Fair, promotes, encourages, and supports Oregon artists in all traditional media who show an ongoing commitment to the highest standards of creative excellence. The jurors were Rod Pulliam, Tom Cramer and Jack Portland.  

Cindy Lommasson, Core Values, encaustic on birch panel, 2009

Cindy was also juried in to the 9th Annual Around Oregon Exhibition to be held at the Art Center in Corvallis in October. It runs from Oct. 1 - Oct. 27.  The juror for that show was Jeffrey Butters of the Butters Gallery in Portland. The piece that she'll be showing is "Core Values," an encaustic painting that was exhibited and purchased at the Marylhurst University Alumni Show last fall. The process involved a collage of sumi ink painted textures, encaustic coated paper (green square) and encaustic paint layering, all on a birch panel.

JoAnn Gilles, Dancing in the Dark, mixed media on board 24x36, 2010.

 JoAnn Gilles ('83) has an art "school", of sorts, in NE Portland at which she teach two classes a week with room for 26 students.  The class list stays full and the students stay year after year, which makes it a vibrant art community. Students range from those with art school degrees to those who have never picked up a brush. The group's name is ArtHouse. In addition, JoAnn occasionally leads groups overseas for art excursions.  Next up is painting in Nice, France. In Portland her work is represented by Heidi McBride. 

Ken Butler, Red Track Record, assemblage,   60"x 40" x 3", 2011

 Ken Butler (MFA '77) is showing his new assemblage works, Vibrating Body, now through October 9, 2011 at Sideshow Gallery located at 319 Bedford Ave. Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York.Echoing his hybrid instruments and collages, these new works further abstract and transform the human-figure-instrument-body iconography he is known for and push it further into the realm of mechanical bio-structure and cybernetics, implying a sacred altar-like space and referencing the cycle of deformation and re-formation. Constructed primarily from consumer detritus, social discards, and vernacular urban flotsam and jetsam, these works become inter-woven cyphers of the new resonant technological "body" of modern existence, with it's ever-complex "control systems" to regulate desire, at times referencing traumatic memories and turbulent meanings.    

Carolyn Cole, Untitled (61103) mixed media on canvas,   61 x 48 inches, 2011

 Carolyn Cole ('77) had one person shows at Gallery IMA in Seattle in July and at the William and Joseph Gallery in Santa Fe in August. Also, one of her paintings in the collection at OSHU is included in a new book Art on the Hill, Works from the OSHU Collection. 

James Minden, Light Drawings video

Greg Danielson, Manzanita Storm

 Richard Harper ('73) continues to work part time at Adventist Medical Center as a Registered Nurse and is into his 28th year there as of September. He is also preparing to display a couple of his paintings in  an art show in October. It is to raise money for a children's art program in Salem, Oregon.

Scott McIntire, Batman at RIO

 Scott McIntire ('71) had a two person exhibit at the R. Dimon Gallery, Jamesport, NY, May 6 - August 3 2011, and was reviewed in LI Pulse magazine, "2011 VIP Artist, Scott McIntire". This fall, his work is included in Studio Visit magazine, volume 13. In September he is in a group show at the Kenneth Paul Lesko Gallery in Cleveland, OH (attached "Batman at the RIO") and this fall in a Realism show at the Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe, NM.
www.scottmcintire.com and www.local-artists.org/user/11251

Bill Plympton book cover

 Bill Plympton ('69) published a new book through Rizzoli Press, called Independently Animated, Bill Plympton: The Life and Art of the King of Indie Animation. Also, there is a new documentary about Bill called "Adventures in Plymptoons". For more information and news about Bill click here.