Artists go ‘eye to eye’ with nature, soul at Pacific Park
COOS BAY — Art created in nature
and in the hearts of artists is exploding on
the walls at Pacific Park Gallery. The
artists’ reception for “Experimentalist:
The Inside Eye” and “Botanical Studies:
A Bee’s Eye View” is 2 to 4 p.m., Sunday,
Aug. 14, at the gallery, 1957 Thompson
Road in Coos Bay.
“Experimentalist: The Inside Eye”
began as a workshop, “Experimental
Painting,” through the Coos Art Museum
Education Department. It was the brain-
child of retired art instructor Pat Snyder.
Snyder had a wish to enjoy art as he did
when younger, with fewer inhibitions. He
felt other artists might have the same feel-
ings and thoughts about recapturing the
spontaneity of creating. He designed a
workshop for all levels of artists, begin-
ning to experienced, inviting participants
to expressly have fun and, in the process,
expand their approaches to painting and
drawing.
“Working with freedom and explo-
ration requires escape from inhibitions,”
said Snyder. “The activities and chal-
lenges called for having fun with abstract
art.”
COURTESY PHOTOS
“Windswept” by Susan Lehman (above) and
“Hot Summer Daze” by Paula Reis
New explorations forced working with
art from the traditional descriptive and
narrative art processes into the investiga-
tion, abstract expressive form. Each artist
had studio space to create and examine the
non-objective abstract approach to art
making. The open environments built a
community of artists that supported explo-
ration.
“While all the students were painting,
the sound of creativity was deafeningly
quiet,” Snyder said.
Participating
artists
are
Dana
Gronemyer, Janne LaValle, Elaine
Dunham, Nancy Price, Sally Rolicheck,
Susan Lehman, Geri Inokuchi, Rod
Sullens, Arlene Roblan, Wendy Burger
and Liz Spona.
Upstairs, in the Mezzanine Gallery, the
season is celebrated as bees and Georgia
O’Keefe can. With “Botanical Studies: A
Bee’s Eye View,” photographer Paula Reis
looks into the soul of the garden to share the
incredible explosion of the colors and forms
of nature. She captures the flower as if it
were a portrait, looking for the perfect pose
and lighting to enhance the subject.
Many of her subjects are grown in her
garden. She can study a species from year
to year, photographing extensive studies
under varied light sources, positions and
color temperature. The stark backgrounds
she chooses intensify the colors of the
flowers allowing viewers to experience
being awash in hues not visible to the
naked eye.
Both exhibits blast color, movement,
and expression from contradictory points
of view: realism and abstract expression.
Pacific Park Gallery is located one
block west of Bay Area Hospital in Coos
Bay. For more information, contact
artistjanuary@gmail.com.
210 2nd Street Southeast, Bandon, OR 97411
(541) 347-4133
Open Daily 11AM – Close
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