What our artists did this summer!

David Kinker spent 11 days this summer on a river expedition in northern Mexico near the city of Chihuahua, starting with a two day drive at 15mph over mountainous terrain.

“We arrived at an indigenous village in a pristine valley during monsoon season. The river we were running has not even been run for the last 5 years. Pure green, sharp rock spires surrounded us and the donkeys were as curious about us as the locals. It felt like living in a National Geographic special, the people still living in the ways of their ancestors, eating corn and beans along high-water playas. Edged by steep rock faces, for nearly 200 km we faced wild and mild rapids, some requiring portage or lining the rafts. Beautiful desert with air plants, rattlesnakes, sand toads, an almost locust density of giant colorful crickets, surrounded by pine trees, pure acacia and ocotillo cactus. Truly special and humbling, so much gratitude to have had such an authentic experience. Yes, there are places in this world that are untouched by the modern context.”

David did quick drawings along the way as a meditation of being more present in a place. Listening to the sounds watching the clouds pass, light change, between rain, work and awe. As he has done with other river expedition adventures, he is now working on a series of larger paintings based on his experiences.

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Helen Brown enjoyed painting in her sketchbook aboard a small expedition cruise to Alaska via the Inside Passage in May. She paints in an accordian-fold journal made of watercolor paper.

(Many artists work in their sketchbooks when traveling. They are easy to take along and get out quickly to record scenes, creating an intimate diary, both to use as inspiration for future art, or to go back to as the years go by and remember “how it felt”.

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Anne Gibson   The Place of the Creator or Neahkahnie is what the mountain looming above these cliffs at the north end of Manzanita’s 7-mile long sandy beach was named by the Nehalem-Tillamook peoples. This summer, Anne’s extended family gathered in Manzanita for the third time since the pandemic to visit with her mom in a place they all love, walk the beaches, take hikes, make memories, and cook and eat too much food.

“I don’t find time to paint during these reunions but I do gather inspiration. I read that the people who had hunted and gathered on the lower slopes of Neahkahnie mountain for millennia, even controlled the growth of the forest with small fires, creating elk pastures in the lower meadows, ensuring a better hunt. Indeed we passed a few grazing elk on the way through Elk Flats to this viewpoint.”

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This sketch made in Susan Luckey Higdon‘s travel journal informed her painting, Gathering Clarity, in our October exhibit. Tending to explore close to home she says, “one of my favorite places is along the South Santiam River. I am fascinated with the geology that created so many colors of rocks. The clear water accentuates the vivid red, aqua, yellow, ochre, and celadon. I can’t get enough of it. Doing a quick pen and watercolor sketch helps me really ‘see’ what’s happening between the rocks, water and reflections.”