Small town, big canvas
Toledo, the small town with the big arts community, will continue to demonstrate its artistic side during the first First Weekend of the new year on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 5 and 6.
Aimed at providing an opportunity for local artists to showcase their work and connect with the general public these studio and gallery spaces will be open for lovers of the arts with COVID-safety measures in place.
On Main Street, the Crow’s Nest Gallery & Studio will showcase the works of several artists, including founder Janet Runger’s storybook found object assemblage art. Visitors will also experience fused glass by Alice Haga; tile and ceramics by Val Bolen; ceramic and a mixed media by Paula Teplitz, including her sculptural jellyfish mobiles; digitally manipulated photography by Jeff Gibford; and vivid watercolors by Tish Epperson.
This month, the gallery is featuring a large selection of work from Yeta Bhaktina.
Bhaktina grew up in St. Petersburg, Russia, at the end of the Communist era and credits her exposure to uncharted nature, the rural Russian countryside and her traditional heritage for much of her inspiration and working style.
“My paintings and illustrations focus on themes of home, nostalgia and manifestations of infinity in nature through the lens of a Russian American immigrant,” she said.
“Internal Landscapes” is an ongoing portfolio project in symbolic realism in oil and acrylic. The pieces, influenced by traditional Slavic Palekh and Khohloma styles, speak to the artist’s immigrant experience and invoke symbolism from trans-cultural spirituality.
Crow’s Nest Gallery & Studio is located at 305 N. Main Street and is open from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Continuing from the previous month is the Gibbons Retrospective Exhibition at the Yaquina River Museum of Art. Twenty paintings by renowned oil painter, the late Michael Gibbons, will be on display in the Museum’s Schoolhouse Exhibit until Sunday, Feb 28. Gibbons was known for his impressionistic en plein air, or painting outdoors, style that captured the essence of the location. He often described his paintings as an artist’s benediction to nature. This series of 20 paintings feature works completed around the world from his many artistic expeditions over the course of his 40-year painting history.
The Yaquina River Museum of Art, located at 151 NE Alder Street, will be open from noon to 4 pm on Saturday and Sunday. For more information, go to www.yaquinarivermuseumofart.org
Across the street, the Michael Gibbons’ Signature Gallery will be featuring “A Summer Afternoon At Salishan,” a plein air oil painting depicting a calm ocean view on the Oregon Coast. Gibbons often turned to the sea for inspiration where he said the constantly changing weather and tides offered a unique challenge for capturing movement. The Michael Gibbons Signature Gallery, located at 140 NE Alder Street, will be open from noon to 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday. For more information, go to www.michaelgibbons.net
Just a short walk around the corner, Ivan Kelly’s Studio & Gallery will be featuring new works from the landscape and big game artist. A special spotlight will be given to “A Robin Spring.”
“In this new year we now look forward to the promise of spring;” Kelly said, “when the riverbank willows burst forth and the branches fill with song from that perennial favorite, the red-breasted American Robin.” Ivan Kelly Studio & Gallery, located at 207 East Graham Street, will be open 11 am to 5 pm on Saturday and noon to 5 pm on Sunday.