New Adventures at Artists’ Gallery Sunriver
If you visit the Artists’ Gallery in Sunriver, the artists are ready to lead you to both new and reminiscent times. It will be especially fun to visit the gallery on the regularly scheduled Second Saturday celebration where you can chat with all of the artists while munching on great food and sipping beer, wine and sparkling cider. The fun starts at 4pm and goes until 7pm on Saturday, August 13.
Isn’t it great that when you hear a song from your youth, you are transported to that time in your life. Well, art does the same thing. It takes you away! It can take you to all kinds of fun, happy and emotional places.
Dottie Moniz, one of the featured artists this month, has been a popular mixed media artist at the gallery since it opened. Although Moniz has been sought after for her collages depicting local mountains, water\, and forest scenes, this month her collection includes some new subject matter. Her piece Creeping Fog was painted from a photo taken on Orcas Island. The viewer is moved to feel the warm evening on a walk to the beach and ocean as the fog rolls in casting beautiful shadows on the grasses. There is just a faint hint of the approaching sunset. Another painting, My Monet 3, takes to viewer to a beautiful garden. The beautiful lilies float upon the surface of a pond and underneath the water lies a mystery.
Fiber artist, Mary Wonser, is happy to take everyone along on her new adventure. Her new creations use the softness of felted wool to create “pots” that have saturated Southwestern colors. Even though the pots are made of fiber, plants (in a water tight container) are happy to make a home there. Wonser, who has an obvious love of color and texture, is always looking for new ways to express that love. The gallery features many of her woven wool shawls using beautiful wool from the Imperial Stock Ranch in Maupin. There are also more lightweight options using rayons, blends and ribbons. Table runners are woven with hand dyed batiks and cotton yarn and soft, thirsty dish towels with American cotton grown in Georgia.
Popular metal artist, Midge Thomas, has added to her team in order to continue to meet the heavy demand for her wall art. Daughter Laura Smith and grandson Ryan Smith are now producing pieces under the artist’s direction. These pieces allow collectors to take a trip back to the Sunriver area without ever leaving their home. Selection ranges from small key holders to very large complicated custom pieces. The Smith/Thomas/Smith team has an art piece for almost every great memory that a vacationer can find in beautiful Central Oregon.
Featured artists this month include whimsical hat creator, Dorothy Sweet, who has aptly named her line of headgear Sweet Noggins. You don’t even have to be a child to display the colorful side of your personality. Hats range in sizes all the way from tiny babies to adults. Sweet’s use of “Kool-Aid” colors and one of a kind adornments make each piece a unique work of art.
Artists’ Gallery Sunriver
57100 Beaver Dr., 541-593-2127 or 541-593-8274, www.artistsgallerysunriver.com