Gorge Guide

FEATURED ARTISTS at THE DALLES ART CENTER

July 1 - 31, 2009
The Dalles, OR
Opening Reception, July 2, 5 - 7 p.m.

Siv Lavell, oils
“I believe you say more by saying less. Art is a form of communication that seeks to engage the imagination of the viewer in a conversation about life and nature.” A resident of White Salmon, Washington, Siv has called the Northwest home all of her life. Raised in Redmond, Washington she chose to settle in the Columbia River Gorge area because of the outdoor activities it offers year around and because of its spectacular scenery providing endless material for landscape painting. She further developed her skills at the Art Institute of Seattle where she graduated in 1995 with a focus on illustration and graphic design. Working as a graphic designer for over ten years has enhanced her skills in composition, color and value infusing her painting with greater depth of character, intensity and mood and strengthening the overall vitality of her work. Siv’s brushwork suggests rather than renders the subject. While primarily focused on landscape painting, Siv is also drawn towards figurative and still life subjects stimulated by the variety and new challenges they present. Loose, uninhibited, more about feeling than detail, her work constitutes a balance of gestural strokes, color and shape that morph into something familiar. It’s energizing!

Kathy McCullough, silver & glass jewelry
I was a pilot for Northwest Airlines for 26 years, retiring as a 747 captain out of Anchorage. While traveling for work, my hobbies included writing, photography and colored pencil/pen & ink. My hobbies at home required more complex equipment than I could travel with. I learned how to make silver jewelry four years ago, in Gainesville, Florida. My dad was terminally ill, and I was staying with my mom to help out. A girlfriend decided I needed some “R & R” and invited me over and showed me the technique. I also took a three day class at the Portland Art College from Rio Gconvention in Purdue, Indiana to learn more about it. Then I bought my own little kiln. It reminded me how much I always enjoyed creating jewelry. While I was in high school, I took shop and made copper enamel jewelry with powders and a kiln. I have always loved glass, and used to make stained glass windows. Dichroic glass (a high tech spin-off of the space industry, refers to “having more than one color”) is beautiful – the refraction is identical to a hummingbird’s or peacock’s feathers. I use my old stained glass tools to cut and shape it for the kiln. I was never one to wear much jewelry. Any jewelry, especially rings and bracelets seemed to get lost or broken. As a pilot, I think I was too much of a tomboy! Now I am still fascinated with the process of creating and don't tend to be as hard on earrings and necklaces.

Sarah Starr
I have always loved color, and my earliest memories are visual. My mom was an interior designer, so when I was a child, she dragged me around to fabric, antique, and wallpaper/paint shops with her. I loved to play dollhouse and was also mesmerized by the clothing worn in the late 1960’s by my oldest sister . Color, pattern, and design influenced my tendencies in expression. I love to change the colors in my home and to play with texture and form as a homemaker and as a designer. I have a talented and kind husband who is an artist in the garden and creates a beautiful backdrop for everyone passing through to experienI have two gorgeous daughters who inspire me daily. Although I studied art in college, I never considered myself capable of being an artist. In my work as an art teacher and art therapist, I like to paint and express a simplification of what I feel a passion for. I have begun to let go in my art more and more as I move away from my formal training and work more from instinct and the imagination. I see my art evolving more into portraiture and landscape and eventually minimalism.