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| 10/3/2007 12:01:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article
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Bonnie Lou Cozby photo
Bette Lu Krause with her acrylics painting “Cascade Creek.” Sunrays pass through the dark forest canopy in the upper right corner of the work. |
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Bonnie Lou Cozby photo
Rose Power puts finishing touches on her Port of Ilwaco Art Walk oil painting. An accomplished knitter and spinner, Power will also have many colorful hand knit items for sale at the PAA Fall Art Show. |
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Local artists make discoveries
By Bonnie Lou Cozby
For the Observer
PENINSULA - Adding a shard of glass to a painting, finding new uses for nature's found objects, creating art for the garden rather than the house or simply turning a blank canvas from horizontal to vertical gave four area artists the chance to explore new ways to share their artistic sight while discovering new joy and satisfaction in the process.
Their work and that of other artists will be featured at the 37th annual Peninsula Arts Association Fall Art Show and Sale, "Harvest of Art" is Oct. 5 through 8 at the World Kite Museum in Long Beach.
Bette Lu Krause lives in a beach bungalow not far from the sea on the Long Beach Peninsula. In a space uniquely her own, her home is a mixture of travel mementos, family remembrances and art. As a naturalist aboard eco-friendly sea cruises, Krause travels to many of her favorite places in the Pacific Northwest. Over many years, she has created a diverse library of photos taken while onboard these ships or while guiding tourists on hikes through rain forests and other magical places. This library serves as an inspiration for many of her expressionist landscapes.
"It is hard to hang on to your time," Krause said while explaining her painting technique. Most of her works result from a time-consuming layering process. Working in acrylics and using a brush and palette knife, she may use up to 10 different photos as layer after layer goes on the canvas, until, in her words, "the painting underneath, the real painting, finally emerges."
This has been her usual technique until a recent four-day, Northwest Guides' Open Fast. Held in eastern Washington, during the recent lunar eclipse, the experience led her down a new and different path.
Meeting at a predetermined area, the six guides prepared to hike to their individual spots. Using a stone pile as a daily check-in point, one between every two guides, allowed each guide to be on their own during the fast but still remain safe. Krause was compelled to bring her paints and canvas along on the fast, something she had never done before. When she reached her spot, she found there were shards of a mirror at the base of a large pine tree. After painting the tree and the moon, she decided to add some of these shards to her piece as well.
"I had brought paper before, but not canvas. The fast helps you to push the edges and hold things in larger context and as an artist, follow what comes from inside. The broken mirror made me think ... the mirror is broken ... mankind sees through a broken mirror, seeing only himself and not the entire world or other creatures, or how he fits into the world as a part of it," she said. "I had never added anything to my paintings before."
This new grouping of work, "The Broken Mirror Series," features a few shards of glass attached to each painting. Partially hidden in some spots by layers of paint, they reflect the viewer as he studies the vision of the world Krause has created.
Sue Beeman was born, raised and is currently living in Astoria, Ore. The beauty of the area has always been a delight to her. Possessing a talent for drawing and composition, she has bolstered this natural ability with a few classes here and there and was able to develop a real eye for finding photographic scenes during her work in the travel industry. An avid gardener, Beeman created a whimsical and bountiful garden space on the hillside of her home. Filled with small sculptures, beautiful plants, winding walkways and a few very appreciative neighborhood felines, this garden provided the impetus for her move into a new type of art. While sitting in the sunroom that overlooks her garden, Beeman was hit with an epiphany. She suddenly knew how to save some of the beauty her garden provided by literally transferring it into art.
"I went down to ABECO, got a canvas and some Modge Podge and just starting doing it," she said.
Without any instruction and with minimal tools, she learned how to take the grasses, leaves, twigs, petals, bark and textures of nature and create beautiful collages with them. Not satisfied working with only these materials and paint, she soon began adding pieces of specially made paper to her work. The varying textures, patterns and colors of this paper gave a new depth and dimension to her art. Soon her basement studio was filled not only with bits and pieces of nature but with sheets and sheets of beautiful paper. Some sheets of paper hung for a year or more before Beeman found the exact combination of materials to work with. One of those sheets led her to the simple discovery that has further enhanced her collages.
"I turned it upside down," she said. "Then I put a leaf under it instead of on top of it."
This small change soon led to gold leafing the patterns emerging through the paper and embellishing what she found on the backside of the paper with inks. She has even hand sewn difficult-to-adhere items onto her canvas.
"I work with whatever occurs to me," said Beeman. "Works evolve. You don't always know where they are going."
Nearly 30 years ago, Jan Richardson began a journey that began in her kitchen and led to the development of the Windy Meadows Pottery Ltd. line. Working with slab clay, she designed and made many series of architecturally charming cottages and candlehouses. These stoneware buildings have been a favorite of collectors worldwide. While living in Maryland, Richardson had 50 employees at Windy Meadows, working hard to keep up with the demand of the handmade cottages, collector club administration and shipping concerns. However, since moving to the Peninsula, she has had the time to explore a new vision for her clay artwork ... garden sculptures.
"The garden sculptures are less complex and allow me to experiment with shapes, glazes and textures which are not appropriate for the cottages, and that is really a fun thing," said Richardson.
Using a different type of clay, which she refers to as fancy mud, different tools, different firing temperatures and times and new glazes, has been at times equally exciting and frustrating. Many of the new sculptures have shapes reminiscent of a teepee with metal additions applied to the sides or left to dangle in openings at the top. All have interesting textures pressed into their surfaces.
Referring to the metal additions, Richardson said, "I just thought it would be more interesting and I found some great parts in a recycle center. If I use brass or copper, I can create interesting patinas. I will also be adding some driftwood in a future group. I use all sorts of things to create a surface - rubber stamps, window screens that were shredded by my dog, wires I find in the street, leaves and things I find on the beach," she added.
A move to Surfside, a new studio in Ocean Park and a new direction in her artwork is not the only change planned in Richardson's artistic life.
"In the spring of 2008, I am planning to attend a workshop in Italy to learn more painterly techniques. That is a whole new exploration for me."
Rose Power's moment of discovery happened in early September of this year. While giving an oil painting demonstration at the Port of Ilwaco's Art Walk, an entirely new way to go about creating a painting presented itself to her.
Located inside the Imperial Schooner for her demo, Power's view was a peek at the dock, pilings and some birds. True to her motto of painting parts of the Peninsula that others often overlook, she did not include a boat (Lighthouses also fall into her category of "Do Not Paint").
"I began my usual process of backgrounds, sky, water ... large spaces, then suddenly found myself painting in a much less controlled and free way," she said. "I usually work from photos and instead found myself splashing color around. Nothing like how I usually painted. I look at it now and say, 'How did I do that?' I don't know if it was painting in public, having a timeline or what the heck - maybe my evil twin took over."
Whatever the reason, a painting emerged in less than three hours that would have usually taken a week or more. And to add more proof to the pudding, another she threw together from a photo, sold right on the spot. The Monet-like water lily in that painting originated from a photo she had taken of a wild but beautiful roadside pond she found on a recent drive through the Peninsula.
"The Peninsula is very inspiring. I had not painted in 30 years then I saw scenes in my head that pleased me, like cranberry bogs and pilings."
Power and her husband, George, moved to the Long Beach area three years ago.
One more discovery was made during her Art Walk period. For years, Power had painted with her canvas placed on the horizontal. That choice resulted in work that tended to be more panoramic rather than close in. For whatever reason, at this demonstration, Power decided to turn her canvas on the vertical and a whole new world of close-up subjects opened to her.
"It was very energizing and I will definitely consider doing it again," said Power of her demonstration experience. "I enjoyed the audience and doing it on the spot instead of in my basement lair with photos taped on the furniture. I'm not likely to change mediums, but style ... why not?"
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