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Wednesday, August 23, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
MCGREGOR: Artist is
working on a book
of images
Continued from page 3
a dove. This dove – of course
– is a turtledove. It’s looking
askance at the turtle as if to
say, “Who are you and where
did you come from?”
McGregor realized he was
onto something. He painted
a bull and a frog, staring
at each other, and called it
“Bullfrog.” Now, three years
and 20 dual-animal paintings
after “Turtledove,” there will
be a show of his work starting
this week, and a book, called
“You Stole My Name,” as in
“said the bull to the bullfrog.”
“You Stole My Name,”
the book, is nearing comple-
tion. The final few paintings
are done, signed and being
framed. The first half of this
series of paintings has been
hanging on the walls of the
Cottonwood Café for two
years, since Jen McCrystal
reopened her eatery. Over
their egg breakfasts and sea-
sonal luncheon salads, din-
ers contemplated the humor-
ous animal combinations and
came up with their own ideas
for bonded birds, fish, insects
and mammals. Using some of
their ideas, McGregor contin-
ued to paint.
His juxtaposed animals
include the bull trout, chicken
hawk, cow bird, dog fish,
elephant seal, mule deer, owl
monkey and spider monkey,
zebra finch, cat fish, dog fish
and parrot fish, tiger shrimp,
turkey vulture, rhinoceros
beetle, and so on. You may
notice that a lot of these crea-
tures combine an avian or a
fish with another critter.
The final eight paintings
will be unveiled during the
Fourth Friday Art Stroll on
August 25 at Sisters Gallery
and Frame Shop. Then, on
September 1, all 21 paint-
ings will go on display for the
entire month of September
at Sisters Library, in the
Community Room. This will
be a platform for McGregor’s
new Kickstarter campaign,
and an opportunity for his
friends and fans to pre-order
the book and/or individual
prints. Original paintings will
also be available for sale.
The original medium is
gouache (opaque watercolor).
Sometimes, the two creatures
are painted in symbiosis, and
other times they are looking
quizzically at each other as
if to say “How did this hap-
pen?” The book will contain
just 18 of the 21 final paint-
ings, so McGregor is giving
the public a brochure (and
possibly a web option) to vote
on their favorites.
Each of the final paintings
will be paired with a verse.
Kangaroo Rat
You stole my name,
But I really don’t mind.
After all, we’re two of a
kind.
You like to jump, and I do
too.
They say I even look like
you.
McGregor’s sharp wit
comes across through this
his paintings. Sometimes the
humor or message is right on
the surface, and other times
it’s subtler. It’s always been
that way. When he painted the
“Quilting Bee,” he inserted
his most popular Quilt Show
poster, the Conestoga wagon,
as art on the wall behind the
bee, who is busy using a
“Stinger” sewing machine.
Last year, he turned his band-
mates into musical dogs for
the “Hot Dogs” Sisters Folk
Festival poster. This year’s
festival poster depicts the
Statue of Liberty playing a
parlor guitar and raising a
strong arm.
A San Diego native,
McGregor graduated from
high school in the class of
’68 and started college as an
art major. “I’ve been doing
these things (art and music)
since I was a young child …
as opposed to sports and aca-
demics.” After three semes-
ters, he dropped out to join
a band, and never looked
back. He moved to Sisters in
his 40s, and that’s when he
started painting. He didn’t
play music for 10 years, and
then one day, he picked up his
guitar and started writing and
singing again.
“You Stole My Name” is
McGregor’s second book.
The many posters he designed
for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt
Show inspired his first book,
“Dream Again,” which
came out in 2013. That book
was inspired by the many
quilt posters, especially the
Conestoga wagon, which led
McGregor to write and illus-
trate the story of a young girl
traveling west on the Oregon
Trail with her precious family
quilt.
When McGregor moved to
Sisters, some 30 years ago, he
rented studio space from Jean
Wells, above The Stitchin’
Post. One day, he offered to
carry some boxes of quilts
for her, and spotted a poster.
“Hey, I can do that,” he said
… and offered to design a
Quilt Show poster, the first in
a series of 14.
“At the time, Jean didn’t
know that was my very first
poster,” he quipped.
But the popularity of these
collectable posters leaves
no doubt that he’d found his
niche.
McGregor has also
designed Sisters Folk Festival
posters since the early 2000s,
and many Sisters Rodeo post-
ers, in addition to scores of
commercial and fine art proj-
ects. He’s donated countless
works of art to the annual My
Own Two Hands fundraiser
for Sisters Folk Festival’s
Americana Project.
Some days find him hard
at work, painting in his home
The fi x is...
PHOTO PROVIDED
Dennis McGregor’s “Turtledove.”
studio. Other times, he can be
found playing a gig with his
band, The Spoilers. He has
released three CDs, and even
though he’s not contemplat-
ing a fourth, he continues to
write songs.
“CDs are really expensive
(to make) and people can get
their music for free,” he said.
His musical inspiration
— and his playlist when he
paints — includes the clas-
sics of jazz, folk and blues:
Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills,
Howlin’ Wolf, Lightnin’
Hopkins, Louis Armstrong,
Miles Davis, Nat King Cole
and Ray Charles.
And, if getting the book
published and launching
a Kickstarter project isn’t
enough to do in September,
look for Dennis emceeing
during the folk festival at
the Sisters Art Works tent
on Friday, and playing with
The Spoilers at Angeline’s on
Saturday evening, followed
by the late-night jam, where
he invites other musicians up
to join the band.
Asked, “Are you an art-
ist who is also a musician,
or a musician who is also
an artist?” he replied “Yup.
That’s right. I make my liv-
ing with my artwork, but I
have arrived at a nice balance
of art, music and life, and
working the land. And I’m so
grateful that I’ve been able to
make a living doing that here
in Sisters.”
McGregor’s dual-animal
paintings will be shown
throughout September
at Sisters Library, open
Tuesdays through Saturdays,
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (5 p.m.
Saturdays). Other art, prints
and note cards are on display
at Sisters Gallery and Frame
Shop on Hood Avenue, and
his website, dennismcgregor.
com. The Art Stroll is August
25, and every Fourth Friday,
from 4 to 7 p.m.
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