The nugget., June 14, 2017, Page 4, Image 4

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Wednesday, June 14, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Local artists featured at library show
zy Sue Stafford
Correspondent
The Friends of the Sisters
Library (FOSL) art exhibit
for June features local artists
Barbara Berry in the com-
munity room and Paul Alan
Bennett in the computer room.
Berry, a resident of Central
Oregon for 22 years, moved
with her family to Sisters five
years ago to be close to the
nature she loves. She is best
known for her impressionis-
tic acrylic paintings of land-
scape close-ups done in bright
colors.
“A great reverence for life
and for each living thing is
the driving force behind my
paintings,” said Berry.
Her aspen tree paintings
could be considered her sig-
nature work, although she
paints a variety of landscapes
as well as horses, old trucks,
and a variety of other nature
subjects. She also works in
oil, pencil, watercolor, and
sculpts in clay.
“The use of color and cap-
turing the essence of a subject
is the primary focus in my art.
Each piece takes on a life of
its own and is a doorway in
time for the viewer that they
can walk through. A magi-
cal moment to be remem-
bered. The vibrant colors
create emotion and convey a
sense of the subject, time, and
place,” explained Berry.
Berry holds a Bachelor
of Arts degree in fine art and
art education. Currently she
teaches classes at COCC
in drawing and painting.
Previously she taught at
Colorado Mountain College
in Glenwood Springs and
Aspen, Colorado.
She has created event post-
ers for local events including
the 2006 Sisters Rodeo poster,
the Sisters Harvest Faire,
Summerfest, and Fall Western
Festival from 2006-2009.
Berry said she has been an
artist all of her life, starting at
fours years of age, doing her
best to draw what she could
see. Private lessons funded by
her weekly allowance taught
her to draw and paint well.
Her artistic pursuits contin-
ued through high school, with
Berry attending the American
Academy of Art in Chicago
during the summer, as well
as taking every art class she
could.
She attended Northern
Illinois
U n i v e r s i t y,
Metropolitan State College
in Denver, and the University
of Northern Colorado, giving
her access to many diverse art
styles and techniques, which
she incorporated into her
work.
Berry’s work is cur-
rently hanging in Ken Scott’s
Imagination Gallery in Sisters
and Valley Bronze in Joseph,
Oregon. All of the original
paintings in the library are for
sale.
Berry is a member of the
Watercolor Society of Oregon
and has exhibited in many jur-
ied shows, as well as in gal-
leries throughout the West.
Her work is in collections
throughout the United States,
Europe, and Australia. More
of her art can be seen on her
website at www.barbaraberry.
com. Her contact email is
bberry1111@aol.com. Her
Watercolor 101 book is avail-
able by emailing Berry.
On display in the library
computer room are prints by
well-known Sisters artist Paul
Alan Bennett. According to
Bennett, his landscapes being
exhibited “reflect the flavor
and feel of Oregon east of the
Cascades.”
Bennett has taught art his-
tory, design, drawing, and
painting at COCC for many
years.
His recognizable “knit”
pattern that is incorporated
into many of his pieces started
with a pair of woolen gloves
he purchased on a trip to
Istanbul.
“I was curious to see if
I could paint the knit look
and the designs of the glove
in watercolor using gouache
paint,” Bennett said.
Bennett successfully cop-
ied the knit look and found
ways to incorporate it into his
work.
“Knitting and weaving are
common to all cultures, so this
look lent itself well to incor-
porating much of my interests
in travel, folk art, and art his-
tory. It is also a meditative
PHOTO BY SUE STAFFORD
“Song of Twilight” acrylic original by zarbara zerry.
way to work, and I enjoy that
aspect as well,” he explained.
Various classes and groups
have had the pleasure of par-
ticipating in Bennett’s fun
mural workshops where par-
ticipants work together to cre-
ate large colorful pieces on a
long strip of black paper.
Bennett attended the
Maryland Institute of Art for
his Bachelor of Fine Arts and
received his master’s from
the University of La Verne in
Athens, Greece. His work has
been used by card companies,
for posters, short story illus-
trations, book jackets and CD
covers.
Numerous awards have
been given for Bennett’s
work, including two awards
for best watercolor at the
Beaverton Showcase, Best of
Show in Co-Arts, best paint-
ing award at the Oregon State
Fair, as well as numerous
national and regional awards.
Bennett’s work is part of
the one percent collection
for art at Eastern Oregon
University and also at COCC.
In 2006, 16 of his images
were used by Pendleton
Woolen Mills to create
tapestries.
Much of Bennett’s work
is available for purchase on
his website, www.paulalan
bennett.com, including prints,
originals, greeting and play-
ing cards. All of the prints at
the library are available for
$225 each. Sisters Gallery
& Frame Shop on West
Hood Avenue also represents
Bennett.
Bennett and his wife,
Carolyn Platt, are longtime
Sisters residents, and their
son, Parker, is a graduate of
Sisters High School. Platt
has taught art at both Sisters
Middle School and COCC.
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