10A • October 21, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Exhibit investigates the efects of time on landscapes
By Nancy McCarthy
For Cannon Beach Gazette
S
tirling Gorsuch is fas-
cinated by how time
shapes a landscape. But
the linocuts, etchings,
monotypes and other print
work he will exhibit at the
Cannon Beach History Center
& Museum also demonstrate
how time has shaped the artist
since his childhood in Cannon
Beach.
“It’s a progression,” Gor-
such said of the exhibit, ti-
tled “Oregon Visions,” now
on display. “It shows a mat-
uration; it’s an assortment of
things I’ve done in Clatsop
County and in Bend.”
The local landscape —
hiking trails through majestic
forests, ocean waves crashing
against rocks, beach bonires
and stars set against a dark
sky — inluenced Gorsuch as
a youth.
Later, when he lived in the
Bend area, forest ires, bliz-
zards and dramatically chang-
ing seasons inspired him.
He observed how the en-
vironment changed even in
a few hours, as the sun and
clouds passed overhead.
“This exhibit is from a cou-
ple of years ago when I tried
to integrate abstract shapes
and symbols as ways of show-
ing the passage of time in one
scene,” Gorsuch said.
Window panes also often
are used to show the effects of
time moving across nature.
“It’s kind of like memory
— seeing a place at a certain
time, and this is the recording
of that time,” Gorsuch said.
Coastal subjects are his fa-
vorite, said Gorsuch, who now
works in Portland. His life in
Cannon Beach brings back
some nostalgia. “It’s a magical
place; people are drawn to it
for a reason,” he said.
“It’s a compelling place,
with the colors and the light
— they change so fast.”
To capture the landscapes,
Gorsuch works from his pho-
tos and drawings. Sometimes,
the message he is trying to
make or the emotions he tries
to evoke don’t come easily.
“At the base of Neah-
kahnie Mountain, there’s one
tree I’ve probably done ive
different versions of,” he said.
“It’s teasing apart something
that doesn’t come easily.”
His view of his environ-
ment may have been kindled
by his parents and Cannon
Beach residents, Bonny and
Richard Gorsuch. Bonny is a
fabric artist and Richard is a
painter — he once painted im-
ages of Haystack Rock every
day for a year.
“They didn’t try to force
me to be an artist; they en-
couraged me. Being around
working artists forces you to
look at the world differently,”
Gorsuch said. “It was a great
upbringing.”
He attended Cannon Beach
Elementary School and, later,
Clatsop Community College.
Prints by artist Stirling
Gorsuch, who grew up in
Cannon Beach and now
lives in Portland. He will
exhibit his work at the Can-
non Beach History Center
& Museum in the show
“Oregon Visions.” Above
is “Begin Again”; on let is
“Phase Dance.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Stirling Gorsuch, an artist who grew up in Cannon Beach
and now lives in Portland, will exhibit his work at the Can-
non Beach History Center & Museum in the show “Oregon
Visions.”
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
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SUBMITTED PHOTO
“Enduring,” by Stirling Gorsuch.
He was one of the last stu-
dents to study under the late
painter and printmaker Royal
Nebeker, who Gorsuch called
“an amazing artist.”
After receiving the honor
of “Student of the Year” in the
college’s art department and
graduating in 2013, Gorsuch
went on to Oregon State Uni-
versity, where he studied with
Japanese printmaker Yuji Hi-
ratsuka and became his teach-
ing assistant.
Gorsuch graduated summa
cum laude with a ine arts de-
gree from OSU last year.
He works at Gamblin Art-
ists Colors in Portland, which
manufactures the inks he has
worked with for years. Gor-
such had always been curi-
ous about how the inks were
made. His job, he said, “is like
scratching my own itch.”
The exhibit at the Cannon
Beach History Center & Mu-
seum is one of several exhib-
its he has had locally and in
Astoria, Portland, Corvallis
and Bend.
“I remember going on a
ield trip there when I was in
Cannon Beach Elementary
School,” he said. “It’s a venue
dear to my heart.”
Elaine Murdy-Trucke, the
history center’s executive di-
rector, said she met Gorsuch
when he began displaying his
art at the Cannon Beach Gal-
lery. His work, she added is a
“great it for the museum.”
“I know that he comes from
a family of artists, but Stirling
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clearly has his own voice and
vision,” Murdy-Trucke said.
“As an avid hiker and lov-
er of Oregon’s natural world,
his work speaks to me. It re-
minds me of all of the trails
I’ve walked, all the trails I’ve
yet to walk. It reminds me of
all of our beautiful places, the
forests, our beaches, it truly
is Oregon. The Oregon that I
love,” she added.
The museum, 1387 S.
Spruce St., is open from 1 to
5 p.m. Wednesday through
Monday and is donation
based. For more information,
call 503-436-9301 or visit
the Cannon Beach History
Center’s website.
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