(Above: Tranquility, acrylic on canvas by David Kinker)
Winter In The High Desert
Members Of The High Desert Art League
Sunriver Resort Lodge Betty Gray Gallery presents Winter in the High Desert, paintings by members of the High Desert Art League (HDAL). The exhibit continues through the annual Traditions celebration of December into the New Year.
The HDAL exhibit features artworks by members including Helen Brown, David Kinker, Jean Lubin, Dee McBrien-Lee, Jaqueline Newbold, Vivian Olsen, Janice Rhodes, Barbara Slater and Joren Traveller. These HDAL members’ works will be on display through February 19, 2018.
David Kinker’s muse for his acrylic painting is water, a vital resource in the high desert and around the globe. He notes that water offers abounding illusions which challenge painting skills and perception, both figuratively and literally. The artist’s exhibit features peaceful scenes often depicting water’s edge.
A working artist for most of his adult life, Kinker paints murals, fine art and creates illustrations, “continually in an act of reverence for the craft.” He studied art at vocational and technical schools during high school and received a bachelor of arts in visual communication at the Northwest College of Art.
In her first appearance at the Sunriver gallery, Dee McBrien-Lee shows predominantly works in acrylic with the occasional addition of mixed media. Working exclusively in abstraction, her painting begins with spontaneous expression and finishes through the subtraction or addition of painting aspects such as color or gestures.
Emotion is McBrien’s muse. A pending trip to Italy, with Tuscany on the itinerary, inspired her painting, Dreaming in Italian. A post-trip painting, Look for Me by the Ligurian Sea, reflects inspiration from Italy’s Cinque Terra area and the steep hillsides descending to the Ligurian Sea. A subtle image of the artist appears in the painting.
As young women, Vivian Olsen studied watercolor with a master teacher at the University of Idaho for three years with the goal of becoming a wildlife artist. With both a masters of science degree in biology and an art degree, she achieved her goal painting professionally as a wildlife illustrator. Now continuing her personal painting, the artist designs each watercolor or pastel image to be dramatic, lifelike and filled with luminous color.
Creating expressive portraits, from wolves and bison to owls and ravens, her paintings reflect her strong bond with animals, especially those of Central Oregon. The artist notes, “I paint what I love — nature. I always strive to capture their individual personalities in my work.” Olson hopes her artwork will bring more awareness to the intrinsic beauty of Northwest animals, encouraging our care for wildlife.
Sunriver Resort invites the public to the exhibition, open all hours. Billye Turner organizes the Lodge art series, info at 503-780-2828 or billyeturner@bendnet.com