Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon Sunday, February 21, 1960 5A
A 'Basic Diet' and Scarcity of Furniture Fail to Shake Their Convictions-
Young Couple Wedded to Art
By MARVIN TIMS
Of the Register-Guard
Art is an indispensable need of humanity, it is part of the
oul of a child just as it was a part of primitive man's.
This is just one of the many concepts of art held by a young
Eugene couple who paint full time in an effort to keep the wolf
from their door.
But Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gilmore, who produce framed oil
paintings in an old virtually unfurnished, dwelling in Eugene,
are an unusual couple. They apparently don't place the dollar
on a pedestal and certainly don't fear the wolf even when he
glares through the window at them.
Parents of three children, Miriam, 6, Michelle, 3, and Patrick,
1, Robert and Norma Gilmore have been painting for more than
a decade, but it was only two years ago that they decided to make
art their sole means of sup-
port.
Although life hasn't been
easy, forcing the family to eat
what Norma smilingly terms a
"basic diet," the two artists
have resisted the urge to raise
the price of their oils. They still
sell many of their paintings for
less than ten dollars.
Robert, who often wears a
tarn when he works, said last
week he feels that "in this
democratic age art should be
for everyone. Why should art
be for just a few?"
"We are making a living
while enjoying the wonderful
satisfaction of doing the thing
we love most. We don't even
have a car, but we are happy."
Gilmore, who played the vio
lin for 12 years before he dis
covered he wanted to be a
painter instead of a musician,
said art is a basic ingredient of
life. "Some day when man goes
to the Moon or Mars, he will
take a good painting with him
to keep from going crazy."
Norma, who obtained a Mas
ter of Fine Arts Degree at the
University of Oregon, said peo
ple tend to place art too high
or too low. "Art should be
everywhere in man's life. It
was, after all, the force that
led the cave man out of the
dark."
Art, she said, has allowed
truth to come down through the
ages. "Wrapped like a cotton
ball, art was unrolled a little in
the great temples of the early
Greeks and has continued to
unroll down through the era of
the Gothic churches, the Ren
aissance to the present."
While science can "crack
things apart, it doesn't put
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them back together. Art in its
many forms can do this. In a
sense, art has been the salva
tion of mankind," Norma said.
Does the average person ap
preciate art? "I'm certain he
does. I have talked to many
people about art and have even
gotten some to paint," Norma
smiled. "But you must remem
ber that people can't really see
the value of art unless they are
disposed toward it. You can't
see it just by wandering
through a museum. It will be
there only if you want it to be."
Robert and Norma paint still
lifes, outdoor scenes, paintings
patterned along classical lines,
and so-called abstract paintings.
"But in our abstracts, we have
combined realistic elements,"
Norma said. "In one painting
you can visualize a flute, for
example, or a wine bottle. Most
artists don't combine realism
with the abstract, but we are
trying to do something a little
different."
To make an abstract, she ex
plained, the artist must start
with something concrete."Paint
ings have to have parts. If not,
they will be nothing more than
framed wallpaper."
Most people, she said, think
of paintings as a process of fill
ing up space. "This is not it at
all. You actually make space
by taking away and then filling
it up. Painting, in a sense, is a
form of higher mathematics."
What about color in a paint
ing? Can it, for example, con
flict with the colors within a
room? Robert doesn't think so.
He says a painting will make
"other surrounding colors come
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nothing held
back
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BUDDING ARTISTS? Miriam, 6, (left) and Michelle, 3, daughters of two Eugene art
ists, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gilmore, try sketching with a crayola. In the background are
some of the paintings their parents have completed in recent months.
alive. Did you ever see a bird
or a flower placed wrong in
nature? Of course not. They
look beautiful no matter where
they are. So it is with a paint
ing." Although the Gilmores now
get along on a low income,
they are optimistic about the
future. Says Norma: "Art is
good for a man and tends to
give him long life. And Robert
and I can continue to paint as
long as we live. Titian lived be
Springfield Cof
Directors of the Springfield
Chamber of Commerce Wednes
day endorsed the March 1 election
proposal to annex the region east
of Springfield to about 72nd
Street.
Robert Smith, Chamber mana
ger, said Wednesday the Chamber
will sponsor a newspaper adver
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Keep Wolf From Door by Length of a Paintbrush
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yond 90 and some of his best
work was produced late in
life."
Robert, who said he started
his painting enterprise two
years ago with a three-dollar
investment in water colors,
mats, and oils, says when you
have to sell paintings to make
a living, "you will put some
thing into your work that
people can understand."
Life and art are closely inter
C Endorses Annexation
tisement explaining the annexa
tion measure.
In another action, "directors re
quested the Chamber's transport
ation committee to make a study
of the airport situation in the
community. Smith said the com
mittee will attempt to determine
among other things, whether air
port zoning might be needed
sometime in the future.
General B
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woven, according to the Gil
mores, but life passes and art
remains. It is the only thing
that is permanent.
"Art puts order into life that
can be contemplated. Any num
ber of things can throw our
day-to-day lives into a scramble,
but the painting stands un
changed eternal, "Robert said.
Then, glancing at his wife,
he said: "In our own way I
think we are discovering the
truth."
Directors also instructed Smith
to write to Chamber members,
urging them to contact Oregon's
Congressional delegation regard
ing the disadvantages of the For-
and Bill.
This bill, now pending in Con
gress, would amend the Social
Security Act by including certain
additional benefits, thus raising
costs.
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BIRTH OF A PAINTING Robert Gilmore, a Eugene artist, works on an abstract
painting while his wife, also a painter, watches with interest. The Gilmores say they
are dedicated to tha proposition that art should be within the reach of every man.
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