Wednesday, July 3, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
15
Tour gave glimpse of artistic process
smeared with acrylic and a
<Wet Paint= sign.
<This is where I mix my
colors,= she explained. <A lot
of people are intrigued by it.=
Referring to the traffic, she
said, <It was nonstop. I sold
two paintings, including the
pink rabbit that was pictured
on the cover of the brochure,
and pink peonies. I met peo-
ple from Portland who just
saw the road signs and came
to visit. A woman from Long
Hollow was here with her
grandson, and they spent a
good hour asking questions.
Conversations were great!=
Sandy Dutko, a mixed-
media artist new to the area
and living in Eagle Crest, said,
<I made my expenses plus
some. Best of all, I met neigh-
bors I didn9t know before.
They came by when walking
their dogs.
She took visitors through
the steps she follows 4 or
diverts from 4 when creating
her work.
<What I heard was how
easy everything was to find,
including good comments
about the signs, maps, and
general information,= said
pastel artist JoAnn Burgess.
Being that close to the
source of the art brought out
the artist in everyone. Her
By Helen Schmidling
Correspondent
Sunshine, blue skies and
ideal temperatures made for
a perfect weekend as art-lov-
ing visitors followed the blue
and white signs to the Artist
Studio Tour. Fields with crops
growing and cows and sheep
grazing made for peaceful
drives to the studios outside
of Sisters, while in town, art
lovers walked or biked to see
their favorite artists at work.
This was the third annual
Artist Studio Tour spon-
sored by the Sisters Arts
Association, and the first to
span two days. The weekend
opened with the Fourth Friday
Artwalk through the galleries
of Sisters on Friday evening.
The tour offered visitors
the opportunity to see artists
at work in their homes and
studios, and offered artists the
chance to know their audi-
ence, recruit participants for
possible art classes, and sell
their art direct to the public,
often at reduced prices.
Acrylic artist Sandy
Melchiori had a display of
small paintings and note cards
in her onsite studio, along
with a large in-progress work
of cows grazing. Her unusual
palette was a glass tabletop
visitors included nearly a
dozen people who actually sat
down and created their own
pastel artworks at a station she
set up in her studio.
<One couple liked what
they did so much that they
took it home to have it
framed,= she said.
Not every artist sold work
over the weekend, but even
those who didn9t experienced
tremendous feedback from
visitors. Winnie Givot didn9t
sell any paintings, but she
registered several art lov-
ers for her upcoming water-
color classes, and picked up
a couple of folks interested in
traveling with her to Ecuador
for an upcoming art experi-
ence that includes classes,
an opportunity to explore the
area, and time to paint what
they see. Her studio display
included handmade journals
of previous tours abroad,
complete with illustrations
and descriptions of places and
events.
Visitors were amazed
at what they saw and how
they discovered this event.
One woman at the studio of
Mary Moore told how she
had toured artists9 studios
in Arizona, and when she
arrived in Oregon, searched
online for similar events in
PHOTO BY HELEN SCHMIDLING
Artist Sandy Dutko, right, and visitor Michelle Deaderick discuss
techniques.
the Salem area. What came
up for her was the Sisters
Arts Association tour, so she
drove here for the day, and she
raved over both the quality of
the art as well as the stunning
scenery.
Scratchboard artist Jennifer
Hartwig both sold work and
recruited students for upcom-
ing classes. She said the visi-
tors to her home studio came
because they were intrigued
by not knowing what scratch-
board is, and wanting to learn
more about it.
Visitors to the pottery stu-
dio of Annie Dyer remarked
on the evolution of her work
over the years.
<One woman, who has
tried several different art
media over many years, was
amazed at how my work had
changed,= she said. <Her
comment was 3 8so this is
what happens when you stick
with one thing.9=
Speaking for the Sisters
Arts Association, Bob Burgess
noted how satisfied he was
at the conclusion on Sunday
afternoon.
<Everybody loved it,= said
Burgess. <People loved it, and
the artists loved it. We will do
this again next year.=
One of the <perks= of this
year9s event was the opportu-
nity for visitors to sign up for
the Sisters Arts Association9s
Quick Draw. At the conclu-
sion of the tour, signup tickets
were collected for the oppor-
tunity to win one of three
$100 gift certificates, good at
participating artists9 studios
and the Friday Artwalk galler-
ies. Winners will be individu-
ally notified.
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