Riotoa by Beth Coffey
Thad Kreisher
ntributing Writer
To have a career that is both a
11 time occupation as well as a
: long love.
In a world where necessity
es precedence over desire, this
al is often far fetched to say the
st.
The energetic Myla Keller,
wever, is one person who has
inaged to tear out a piece of the
S world and make it her
Art and personal expres-
ler career, and her love.
- has been on the Oregon
e for 25 years now. Her
lave been displayed in a
of galleries throughout
th west and many of her
tang in both private and
te collections, including
e that was one of the first
|ces of art ever purchased for
I College.
In addition to all of this, Keller
■ the owner of the Keller
Millery for 18 years. For years
| was Salem’s only serious
Inmercial art gallery. However,
ken years ago, Keller left all of
ns and moved to the scenic
Oregon City area where she now
resides in a sunlit house that is
more of an art studio than
residence. Why? One reason
given by the mirthful artist was to
find a new audience. “Salem peo
ple say ‘Oh, I like the way you us
ed to paint,’ ” explains Keller,
“but I am a better painter than I
used to be. That’s the trap. You
get a group of patrons who sup
port you, they don’t want to see
you change because chances are
they’re not going to change with
you.”
Despite the fact that she is an
accomplished and well known
Northwest painter, Keller did not
set out to be an artist. “It was
never meant to be something to
keep me busy” she says, “I
started out looking for
knowledge. I never started out to
be a painter, ever.”
In her life long search for
knowledge, Keller has found
her art to be a very useful tool
towards that end. It has given
her knowledge of both herself
as well as of others.
“It is a diary of my life,” she
says of her art, “They all tell me
a story. There are things that
have gone on that there is no
one in the world I would share
with, but they (her paintings)
trigger the memory for me.”
She continues saying that she
has a “secret weapon in
touching people and getting to
know them through what I
create. The way people respond
is very revealing to me.”
“I never started
out to be a
painter, ever."
Twenty-five years ago, when
Keller first began painting, she
had no idea why other than that
she had a strong desire to do it.
Now, however, looking back in
retrospect, she is a bit more sure
as to what exactly it was that ap
pealed and motivated her so
strongly. “Reproducing space
and time,” she says in
thoughtful
tones
somewhat
removed from her usual light
hearted mode of conversation.
“Still, that is what drives me; to
try and capture what I felt when
I saw what I saw. And if you, a
viewer, even get just a little bit
of what motivated me, it’s suc
cessful. Because I’m a com
municator, I want to com
municate those things with you.
what to share it, I will, if I
don’t, I won’t, and if I don’t
like it, I’ll eliminate it.’ There’s
a lot of personal power just bet
ween me and the canvas.”
Keller’s artwork is currently on
display in Pauling Gallery in an
exhibit entitled “Intimate Land
scapes.” This is a concept that
Keller explains has been an ongo-
Maybe 'hot with the intensity ‘ ir g thing for her for the past two
that I felt, but even if I carry years.
that energy to the next step, it.
“To me,” she states, “an in
worked. That’s what it’s all timate landscape is created by so
about.”
meone who really is emotionally
Concerning her paintings, involved with the subject. So
one does not have to look hard meone who really looks and is in
to discern that Keller’s favorite volved on all levels, emotionally,
medium of expression is the botanically, color schemes,
landscape, both realistic and . growth patterns. As I said to the
abstract. She attributes this to dass, someone who has a bug’s
the fact that she spent the for eye view.”
mative years of her childhood in
Keller’s work depicts the land
seclusion in the wilds of Mon scape with a style that mirrors her
tana. Later on in life, however, energetic personality. The collec
Keller found another aspect of tion currently on display in Paul
the landscape that appealed to ing is a mixed set from several
her. “You’re in control of that different periods throughout her
world,” she laughingly ex career and can be viewed for a
plains, “There are not many limited time..
things in life that you can say *1
created it, it’s mine and if I