The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Experience "Art All Weekend" in Sisters. Start with the Fourth Friday Artwalk through the galleries of Sisters. Galleries are open during the day and most will offer light refreshments between 4 and 7 p.m.

Then, continue with the Seventh Annual Artist Studio Tour, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Studio Tour guides are available in local galleries and businesses and online at http://www.sistersarts.org. Since not everyone has a studio that can be easily accessed, several galleries will host artists on Friday and continue through the weekend. It's a great time to meet your favorite artists, up close and personal.

Space in Common will host three artists: Taylor Manoles, Raina Verhey, and Maren Burck. Mini-studios will be set up so folks can walk through and meet the artists and see their work as they create it. All three artists will be present on Saturday and Sunday for the Studio Tour.

Canyon Creek Pottery will be set up for demonstrations on Friday and during the Studio Tour Saturday and Sunday. Watching Ken Merrill create pottery on the wheel is like poetry in motion, so be sure to take the time to cross Cascade Avenue and visit him at 310 N. Cedar St. You won't regret it.

Sisters Gallery & Frame features the street scenes of photographer Bill Birnbaum, as well as the exquisite Prismacolor pencil landscapes of Mike Stasko, and the pastels and plein air oil paintings of Kay Baker. Stasko will be working on images to be unveiled in the gallery in coming months. Birnbaum, who is president of Sisters Photography Club, will share stories of his travels and how he arrived at "street photography" as his specialty.

The Rickards Gallery presents "Me, Re-imagined" from Dan Rickards, a nationally and regionally celebrated professional landscape artist. In his own words, "This show, in so many ways, is a reflection of my journey to now, everywhere I have been and desire to go, the things I have learned, and all the ways I still want to grow. This is an exploration: a way to see the beauty around me in a new way: new dimensions, new colors, letting a line begin and end at the edge of imagination. I am excited to share this next season of my work with you."

Hood Avenue Art's featured artists are Anne Gibson, Layne Cook and Bill Lind. Gibson's acrylic paintings often encompass water and the rocks it flows over. She hopes it will remind people to treasure and protect the places we have left. Cook's art captures people's personalities, from quiet moments of contemplation to the energy of human motion that depicts personality and gesture. Veteran woodturner Bill Lind reveals the color, texture, and grain patterns of nature. His vessels are produced from found and recycled Oregon woods, sourced from arborists, downed trees, and wood mill "extra" piles from central and western Oregon.

"Meandering" is the theme of the challenge quilts from the Central Oregon Chapter of Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) at Stitchin' Post. Meandering can be defined as "moving slowly and not in a straight line." The quilts, by 31 SAQA members, interpret the concept of meandering using design elements – contrast, color, line, value, repetition, placement of focal point – to move the viewer's eye around their work. In addition to the theme, each quilt must conform to the 18-inch by 40-inch size and also include the highlight color turquoise.

Wildflower Studio celebrates the fall season with new scents in soaps, lotions, linen sprays, and candles. Local company Triumph Outpost is featuring new leather hip bags, earrings, and bracelets. Aster Raine Skincare has new all-natural soaps, in addition to the original line of facial products.

Toriizaka Art is hosting Lim Khim Katy from September 20 to 29. Katy recently immigrated to the United States from Vietnam and is currently settling into her new life. Over the past two decades, Katy has been painting with immense passion and dedication, in two very different styles – realistic portraits that depict the lives and struggles of the urban poor in Saigon and the surrounding Mekong Delta, and eye-popping landscapes that represent dreams of peace and tranquility. In her words, "The series of paintings that I have made since 2019 are my best to date. When my technique was still 'young,' there were certain visual and academic things that limited me. I needed to paint, to read, to be sensitive and get hurt by life; all these factors were absorbed and helped build the reserve of compassion I called upon to create this body of work."

Photo provided

"Day Dream" by Lim Khim Katy at Toriizaka Art.

Take a tour through the Western art of buckaroo artist Len Babb at Bub Warren's Sweetgrass Leather Shop, 183 W. Hood Ave., Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

The work of Karla Diaz Cano continues at Campbell Gallery. She uses different media to explore and deepen her creativity and inspire others to open their hearts to the creative magic within and around us.

Raven Makes Gallery will not be open during Artwalk this month.

Be sure to sign up for Quick Draw, as Sisters Arts Association will award two $50 gift certificates, good at any participating gallery. Register once per gallery visit to increase your chances. Sisters Arts Association thanks Coldwell Banker Bain of Sisters for their generous donation that makes this possible.