Art in the Spotlight

The latest showcase at Newport’s Yaquina Art Association Gallery features works by Angie Thomas and Diane Pinizzotto, opening this Saturday, Aug. 31.

“To paint and explore and create through various mediums: oil, acrylic, watercolor pencils, watercolor, mixed media and gourd drums, gives me peace and joy,” Thomas said.

In 2013 she began to paint with a plein air group from the Bay Area Artists Association in Coos Bay. After moving to Newport, she became a proud member of the Yaquina Art Association.

“There is a story in each piece I create,” she said. “Sometimes it’s my story embedded in multiple brush strokes, values, colors and design. My art journey has had lots of experimenting, twists and turns, dormant seasons and, for sure, perseverance.”

Pinizzotto’s colorful work includes oil paintings ranging from a Model T truck to the majestic blue ocean and everything in between.

“I love nature and all of the colors that bring it alive,” she said. “And I love working with oils. This medium allows me the freedom to express what I am feeling, whether I am looking at the depth of the ocean, the smile on a child’s face, the beauty of a forest or a humble, man-made object.”

Pinizzotto has lived in Lincoln County for 32 years. Her grandmother lived in Seaside where she learned to appreciate the sights, smell and rhyme of nature, especially the ocean.

The show will be on display through Friday, Sept. 13, at the Yaquina Art Association Gallery, located in Nye Beach at 789 NW Beach Drive and open daily from 11 am to 5 pm. For more information, go to yaquinaart.org.