Ladies who launch
By Ruth Hugeback
A new exhibit at Lincoln City’s Connie Hansen Garden features work from a group of four artists who regularly meet to critique and support each other on their artistic journey.
“Painted Ladies: Creative Journeys” will be on display in the Garden House on Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through the end of November.
Ruth Hugeback picked up a paintbrush in earnest about 13 years ago after a 40-year career as a laboratory scientist. She says she “finds different processes therapeutic, fascinating, exciting and frustrating.”
She enjoys experimenting in painting in watercolor, oil and acrylic as well as dyeing and book binding.
Roxce Stavney, after retiring from public health as a nurse, found painting to be her passion. Over time, she found her favorite medium to be painting with oil and cold wax on panels with a palette knife.
She explores color, texture and movement and says she looks for “abstractions that can represent multiple layers of meaning.”
Sue Henderson has been retired for 15 years from a long career teaching art in Oregon public schools. Now she says she gets “to explore and play with all kinds of new techniques and media, and I take joy incorporating them into my primary passions of calligraphy, watercolor and landscape.”
Doreen (Doe) Thirkell, formerly a professional potter and administrative assistant, moved from Maine to the Oregon Coast 17 years ago. After retirement, she experimented in many types of media before settling on soft pastels.
“I loved the velvety feel and subtleness of pastels,” she said.
Each artist has their own style but all are in touch with nature and are not only inspired by the world around them but also by the world within themselves.
An opening celebration, with refreshments featuring homemade cheeses by Vivian Lucero, will take place on Friday, Oct. 7, from 4 to 6 pm.
The Connie Hansen Garden House is open Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 2 pm and is located at 1931 NW 33rd Street in Lincoln City. The gardens are open daily from dawn to dusk.
For more information, go to conniehansengarden.com.