Betty Gray Gallery presents a fine art exhibit featuring Janice Druian, oil landscapes and Vicki Shuck, oil figurative paintings in the upper gallery. Mike Smith’s watercolor and oil paintings appear in the lower gallery. Druian and Shuck will be present at a reception in their honor on Friday, May 24 from 5–7 pm.
The exhibit opened on May 16 and continues through June 27.
Druian, Bend artist, presents oil landscapes reflecting the beauty of the Central Oregon Cascades. Inspired by Edgar Payne’s dramatic paintings of the Sierra Nevadas, Druian captures the drama of the sunset and sunrise on Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Washington and Broken Top as well as on the shimmering aspens of the Cascades.
The artist lives overlooking the Deschutes canyon with an encompassing vista of the Cascades and the Ochoco Mountains, witnessing daily the rich visuals of the high desert light. She paints the variety of this intense light in expressionistic realism with highly contrasting light/dark values in a vivid, yet realistic palette.
Druian took a masters in art education at U of O under noted artists Laverne Krause and Frank Okada. Her continued studies included a concentration on Plein Air and landscape with well-known contemporary painters John Poon, Morgan Samuel Price, Joshua Been and her personal mentor, Jean LeGassick and others.
Her art appeared at the 7th Annual (2013) Plein Air Invitational in Borrego Springs, the Yosemite Renaissance XV at the Museum at Yosemite National Park and Expressions West (2011) at the Coos Art Museum. St. Charles Hospital recently added two of her works to their permanent collection.
Shuck ‘s interest in figurative imagery began during her BA study in art at OSU in the mid-70’s. Departing from figurative for some years, she created illustrations from sacred texts for publishers.
In ‘07, the artist returned to figurative art with small, expressionistic oil paintings of every-day scenes such as café patrons, rodeos and horses, dogs and other groups of people. This exhibition marks her broadening focus on larger scale works. She notes that her secular imagery truly continues her devotional work, celebrating the spiritual nature of life.
Widely recognized artist Smith returns to the Betty Gray Gallery after an 18 month sabbatical with a show of his whimsical images of family pets and “people, places and animals I love.” His works appear in collections globally including Hollywood personality David DePatie, originator of the Pink Panther cartoons.