Month: February 2025

Categories
Glass Art

Jason Laret

Jason Laret – Laret Glass

When Jason first saw the process of glass blowing he was intrigued and captivated in a way he never thought possible. Jason discovered the art of glass blowing over 24 years ago following in the footsteps of his great, great grandfather who created artistic glass works in Los Angeles in the 1940’s. Jason was initially introduced to soft glass or furnace glass at Palomar College in San Marcos, California.

During this college course he was introduced to borosilicate glass which is typically used to manufacture multi-colored artistic glass pieces, lab equipment, cookware, etc. He fell in love with soft glass and borosilicate glass and has continued to work with both ever since.

Many of Jason’s pieces are inspired by nature which keeps him captivated and grounded. His art can help bring this feeling of nature into any home or garden. Some people like art because of how it makes their space feel warm and inviting, some enjoy the visual dynamic that glass brings to any home, and others like the thoughts that are invoked by an art piece. He tries to capture all of these various ways of seeing the world so that everyone can find something in his artwork that speaks to them.

Categories
Woodworking

Nancy Stewart

Nancy Stewart

I grew up in Reedsport, Oregon graduating from Reedsport Union High School. I continued my education in Eugene, Oregon graduating from the University of Oregon with BS in Fine Art. My self employed career began doing leatherwork and I switched to woodwork in 1981. I live on the family property with my husband and we share 3 sons and 9 grandchildren.

My adult life has been spent making things. I began my professional craft career doing leather work and switched to woodwork in 1981. Wood is supremely versatile and so abundant here in the Pacific Northwest. It was the natural choice to use as much of the wood that grows on our property as possible. The first excitement begins when you find a tree that may contain the fascinating swirls of color that nature provides.

Scholfield Valley Wood Products is the premier wood working business on the Southern Oregon Coast. Located in Reedsport, Oregon, we create beautiful, handcrafted wood jewelry holders, cap racks, decor, and more. Please see our show schedule below for upcoming events.

Woodworking – Carving, furniture making, and decorative wood art.

Categories
Photography Woodworking

Rick Howard

Rick Howard – Bear Creek Creations

An Bandon native, Rick grew up hunting and fishing. From 1975 – 2001, Rick designed and built custom homes including cabinets and furniture.

He became a fishing guide in 1995 to share his passion for fishing salmon.

Over the years through his time on the water, Rick has captured many photos that he loves to share.

It all started 50 years ago when I was given permission to cut Myrtle wood trees ahead of a logging operation up the Elk River. Last year I began working the unique slabs into coffee and console tables which are currently available at Mindpower Gallery, Second Street Gallery in Bandon, and Hawthorne Gallery in Port Orford.

Rick’s photography was recently in the Biennial Show at the Coos Art Museum and is currently displayed at Art by the Sea and Southern Coos Hospital in Bandon.

Woodworking – Carving, furniture making, and decorative wood art.

Photography

Categories
Painting

Cindy Ingram

Cindy Ingram

For the past four years I have been “The Flower Farmer/ Abstract Painter.” Now that my flower farm, in the small town of Cottage Grove, Oregon has closed down due, in part, to the harsh impacts of climate change, who am I? As a result, I have embarked on the new quest to find my artistic direction. I am a prolific painter who is actively creating new works almost everyday. When I wasn’t down the hill working on the farm, I was inside splashing fluorescent and highly contrasting colors onto canvas.

Over the last few years I have been actively showing my work across the Pacific Northwest., was voted 3rd place “Best Local Artist” by the readers of the Eugene Weekly, and have been receiving lots of positive feedback and encouragement. What an exciting time of transition!

My artistic expression is a vibrant celebration of color and form, inviting viewers into a strange world where abstraction meets the untold stories of nature. With a playful splash of fluorescent hues and bold contrasts, I create flower-like shapes and trippy landscapes. Each whimsical piece emerges from a spontaneous emotional impulse,

translating feelings into visual experiences that inspire wonder and introspection.

Although my practice is fun and silly and messy, I honor it as a meditation and a conduit for connection to the world around me. I thrive on the physicality of my practice, relishing the freedom of movement while getting my hands dirty and fully immersing

myself in the creative process. I love to use my whole body to unleash energy onto the canvas. I dance with paint in an uninhibited celebration of joy. What starts with an emptiness of mind clear from self editing, bursts into erratic decisions that make themselves. Refinement happens later when I analyze, focus on balance, composition and detail. Markers, tempera and oil sticks love to make marks and outlines.

Viewers of my work often use words such as vibrant, happy and bold to describe it. I watch smiles and giggles wash over them. In a world of such conflict and concern, it’s a nice escape to witness a little burst of color.

Categories
Uncategorized

Victoria Kwasinski

The point of using dummy text for your paragraph is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters. making it look like readable English.

The point of using dummy text for your paragraph is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters. making it look like readable English.

The point of using dummy text for your paragraph is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters. making it look like readable English.

Categories
Painting

Richard Quigley

Richard Quigley – Art of Quig

Richard Quigley’s artistic career is documented through individual and group exhibitions throughout the United States and Mexico. His art works are in galleries and collections worldwide. Quigley’s paintings and drawings have been exhibited at colleges and universities throughout the U.S., including but not limited to the Seattle Art Museum, Portland Art Museum and in the permanent collection at Maryhill Museum of Art .

Richard’s experiences seeking images and meanings for his art have taken him throughout the U.S., Central America, Mexico, South America, Egypt, Turkey and Europe. Quigley is a member of the Watercolor Society of Oregon and a Signature Member of the Color Pencil Society of America. He lives on Planet Earth and resides in Eugene, Oregon!

In the world of art, my paintings and drawings have been described as having a contemporary, surreal narrative and visionary attitude. My imagery continues to evoke the relationship between elements surrounding mankind’s spiritual and physical being in a

symbiotic coexistence between the past, present and future.

Painting – Oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, and fresco.

Categories
Painting

Gabriella Soraci

Gabriella Soraci

Gabriella is a painter living in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. She holds a BFA degree from the University of Oregon (UO) and an MFA from the University of California Davis (UCD). At the UO Gabriella studied for a summer in Siena, Italy, and minored in Art History. At UCD she was a teaching assistant to the American painter Wayne Thiebaud and received the Fay Nelson Award from the combined visual arts faculty. Since then her paintings have been exhibited nationwide, including juried shows at First Street Gallery, Prince Street Gallery, and the Bowery Gallery (all in New York, NY), and in invitational exhibitions such as “Everyday Inspiration: A Still Life Invitational” at Maude Kerns Gallery in Eugene OR (2021), and “Painting the Familiar and the Ordinary: Contemporary Still Life” at Western Illinois University (2014). Artist residency awards include the Millay Colony for the Arts (2010), the Ucross Foundation (2009), the Hambidge Center for the Arts (2008), and the Vermont Studio Center (2008). Gabriella has taught college art courses in painting, drawing, and color design, as well as workshops and private lessons. She is married to Michael Soraci, an architect, and together they have a daughter, Francesca, and twin sons, Anthony and Ari.

Using subjects such as plastic flowers, lace, paper, wood, books, and windows, I weave perception and invention together to create images that feel both keenly observed and intentionally constructed. A search for beauty, order, and balance is ever present in the way I encounter life, intuitively guiding my selection of objects and color combinations. Inspiration comes from art history, geometry, literature, memory, nature, and found objects, resulting in a mixture of contemporary and classical motifs. Recurring elements include circles, piles, and boxes, with an inclination towards symmetry in the overall design. Beginning with red, blue, yellow, and white, I mix my palette paying close attention to how specific color combinations effect mood, space, and light. The resulting paintings are often described as contemplative visual spaces where the commonplace is imbued with hints of metaphor and mysticism.

Painting – Oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, and fresco.

Categories
Painting

Kary Keppol

Kary Keppol

Kary is an acrylic artist from the Oregon Coast, currently living in Seattle. She has a BFA in Illustration from Pacific Northwest College of Art and a Masters Certificate in Children’s Book Illustration from Hollins University. She taught painting here at Mindpower Gallery for three years before the Pandemic, and became a full-time artist shortly after. In 2023 she held her first solo show with Mindpower for her series 100 Cloudy Skies which featured 100 daily paintings of clouds that she completed that same year.

My work is inspired by my adventures in the Pacific Northwest, drawing from my personal experiences exploring its forests, mountains, and coastlines. With my background in illustration, I’m interested in narratives and how viewers will see different stories in the same picture. My paintings transform my own everyday moments into enchanted scenes, and bring to life a cast of characters on imaginative journeys. I’m just trying to share some extra magic in this already magical world.

Categories
Woodworking

Richard Worthey

Richard Worthey

I have been a woodworker for most of my 86 years, and have over thirty years of artistic woodturning experience. I have shown my work in Art Shows and galleries in California, Oregon, Washington and New Mexico. I currently have work on display in Roseburg, and Reedsport, Oregon. I have done workshops and demonstrations at turning clubs in Oregon and Washington. I continue to learn and teach by attending National and Regional woodturning Symposiums. I am a member of the American Association of Woodturners and The Umpqua Valley Arts Association.

I am a woodturning artist doing many styles of wood turning. My recent focus has been on Tensegrity suspended pieces. as a Mentor for two turning clubs I try to focus on techniques and tool selection to achieve the desired results.

Wood Turning baskets, bowls, platters, vases and vessels

Categories
Mixed Media/Collage

Adria Trail

Adria Trail

Every room of my home is a gallery/studio. Having music playing and paint moving is one of the greater privileges I enjoy, as well as sharing God’s word and cooking, playing the piano and accordion, singing, and driving out to explore outdoor photography opportunities.

It is not important to me to be consistent in subject or medium. Colors and style change with me day by day. Sometimes I sign my first name with two “i” s and sometimes with just one. My artwork comes in fits and spurts without much planning; revealed in the rendering of layers to the surface finish. There are usually ten to twelve pieces waiting on completion at a time. Some call my work romantic surrealism, with a mathematic approach to line spacing, others call it undisciplined. What ties my pieces together is the quest for beauty color and detail, expressed in an amusing or serious way; whether it is perceived to be light or dark.