For the past 19 years, Linda Spring has been a resident of the Central Oregon area and heavily involved within the arts community of Bend for 15 of those years. Spring graduated from the University of Oregon with a bachelors in fine and applied arts and cultural services. She has since served on a multitude of boards and organizations including a term as president of the Arts Council of Pendleton, chair of the Lane Regional Arts Council and as a Culture and arts writer for a local newspaper.
Five years ago, Spring opened Underground Spring, an Art to Wear company with a high emphasis on wearable, fine art pieces. The artist draws from an extensive background in fiber and installation art and currently utilizes many fabrics in constructing her pieces. Spring enjoys combining “gnarly materials” with silk because she sees the “juxtaposition of a found object on something so ethereal” as inspiring.
To create her clothing, Spring often uses her environment, and the Central Oregon scenery, as a muse. When crafting a new piece, the artist seeks out distinctive and varied textures, and appreciates incorporating found objects into her works as a way of giving them a second chance in life. On these particular items, Spring states, “things that are off center attract me.”
Pieces from Spring’s Underground Spring line can be found in Strictly Organic Coffee Co., Desperado Boutique and Lotus Moon Boutique.
In 2013, Spring was asked to visit galleries on the First Friday of each month, speak with exhibiting artists and describe what she saw on local radio station KPOV. This talk show has since morphed into a weekly interview series known as Radioactive Art, Part of The Point, (a show focused on local art, stories, culture and happenings).
Since the conception of Radioactive Art, Spring estimates that she has conducted approximately 150 interviews with visual artists. When selecting guests for her show, Spring aims to find “someone who is doing something that is very unique or interesting” or an artist who’s pieces are currently being featured in an exhibit. Spring claims to enjoy the challenge that comes with “the task of describing something visual” because the voices of visual artists are so rarely heard.
The show is always live, as Spring hopes to be as real as possible, and the host relishes the abundance of prospects to be interrogated, stating, “[there is] so much creative talent in our region that I have an unending supply of visual artists to tap into.”
Among guests of The Point, Spring described the works of three artists who have been memorable in their individuality. The show has highlighted David Kinker, a plein air artist who travels along rivers via raft, occasionally stopping, unpacking his supplies, and painting the scene laid out before him.
Another interviewee, David Ember, helped compile a publication entitled, America’s National Parks: A Pop-Up Book, and now works to design adult coloring books. And the third artist was Lynn Roth, a recent feature, and someone Spring describes as “gifted in so many areas” for her painting, work with clay, jewelry building and print making. Roth is currently exhibiting in Sisters.
Radioactive Art can be heard every other Thursday on KPOV, station 88.9FM.
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