14
OCTOBER 20–27, 2021
MIXED MEDIUM
THE ARTS AROUND
EASTERN OREGON
Cakes to
paints
Library’s artist of
the month finds
joy in new medium
By Erick Peterson
East Oregonian
H
ERMISTON — Barbara
Swan, artist and Hermiston
resident, had a 30-year career
as a cake decorator. Toward the
end of that career, however, she
happened upon painting. This
hobby became a new creative
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outlet when her hands pained her
too much to continue with cake
decoration.
This month, she is the fea-
tured artist of the month at the
Hermiston Public Library, 235 E.
Gladys Ave. A collection of her
paintings is on display through
October.
Swan retired as a cake deco-
rator in 2019 and gave herself
more fully to painting. By watch-
ing Bob Ross DVDs gifted to
her by family members, and by
studying under oil painter Ginger
Erick Peterson/East Oregonian
Barbara Swan poses Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021, in front of a mural she painted on her property in Hermiston.
Blodgett and other instructors,
she improved her craft. She said
her brother, Steven Brunette,
also was influential — he is also
an artist and could offer sugges-
tions.
From other artists, she has
learned such techniques as
painting or writing with the oppo-
site hand to “trigger brain func-
tions, getting left and right firing
against each other,” she said.
“To learn from other artists
was eye-opening for me,” she
said.
She realized how little she
knew, but she also rekindled a
love for painting.
Many of her paintings display
in private residences, and she
has also gained recognition
from local businesses. She has
some watercolors on exhibit at
Sno Road Winery in Echo, and
some others in nearby business
offices.
SWAN’S INFLUENCES
Picasso and Monet are his-
torical greats and Swan’s favor-
ites, as they were “cutting edge
of their times,” she said. She also
likes the Impressionists. Having
studied art history, she has other
people she likes. Mary Shulman,
Nicolas Wilton and Nellie Gill are
contemporary favorites.
As an artist, she tries to share
her experience and show the
things she has seen.
“I love nature, flowers, but-
terflies, bugs, all that stuff.
They have their own beauty, but
painting is different than photo-
graphs,” Swan said. “I try to get
others to see what I see.”