Sacred Places
Last winter after taking down a solo show at First Cup Coffee Shop in Portland, icy, snowy weather in the pass fortuitously sent us home via Maupin where the roads were wet but not slippery. We stopped to take in this gorgeous spot at Sherar’s Bridge. The falls crash through a narrow chute lined by canyon walls, a fish ladder, and salmon fishing platforms used seasonally by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. We felt grateful to be allowed to experience the force of this sacred place. I painted the four small paintings above soon after that trip. They are all available through my #wheremyheARTis offer. For these paintings above, I will offer up to a 40% discount if you show me a screen shot of a comparable donation to the Chúush Fund – Water for Warm Springs, or if you pay full price, I pledge to donate 40% of proceeds to the Chúush Fund.
Intrigued by the colors and patterns and forms in the landscape after painting those four small canvases, I decided to explore them more fully in this much larger piece. Unifying all these elements on this scale was somewhat daunting and after working on it during the spring, I set it aside. Returning to it fresh this fall, it came together quite quickly – becoming less about representation and more about remembering the raw power of the place. Sacred Places is currently on view at Franklin Crossing in downtown Bend, in curator Billye Turner’s final exhibition in that venue.
Sacred Places, acrylic on canvas, 36x28 inches, $1,250. On view at Franklin Crossing in Bend, OR. Inquiries: Billye Turner