Art lovers congregate at Ranch

Every year the event gets bigger and better.

On Friday and Saturday, the Black Butte Ranch (BBR) Art Guild once again sponsored Art at the Ranch. The art show has moved into a larger tent on the BBR tennis courts.

Friday started with a silent auction. Several artists contributed pieces to support scholarships for Sisters High School art students and Art Guild projects at the Ranch.

Saturday included a drawing for a quilt, won by local resident Jim Richards.

Jill Neal was one of the artists featured in the show. She specializes in whimsical figures of Wild Women. Their playful, mischievous eyes tempt us to join in their fun.

"I've been doing this since art school in the '70s. The women are more than just big breasts and behinds; they're balanced," she said.

"I have sold over half a million of my wine label, Vivacious Vicky. I don't really have business skills. I've just been lucky. My women have been on wallpaper borders, cups and cards. I've been dealing with a factory in China run by women. I've met them. They're very talented. I've started a line of giftware and I already have over a hundred stores that carry the giftware line."

Neal's success hasn't taken years or consultations with business management firms.

"In another six months the business side ought to be able to run itself and I can get back to painting," she said. "I only had the business a year when I went to gift shows in Seattle and San Francisco and made the store connections."

Watercolor artist Barbara Forrest has attended several art shows in recent years. Known for her landscapes and spirit animals, Forrest talked about how it all began.

"I love the outdoors," she said. "The spirit animals just evolved. I traced a maple leaf and did a landscape inside. I made the leaf darker on the outside and liked the way it looked. I first applied the technique by creating transparent geese."

These "spirit" images have become her trademark.

Lorraine Dye is another painter with a favorite medium: pastels. Her landscapes and flowers show depth of color. Painting since 2005, she is another artist who has achieved successes in a short period of time. Her work is currently displayed at the Oregon State Fair where one of her pieces competed with 181 entries and was one of 71 accepted.

"I only do pastels. I love color," she said. "I owned a retail business for over 16 years. I started painting, I didn't even want to paint, it just happened."

Carol Anne Anderson presented fused glass jewelry with a bold flair. Her pieces are called Hot Flashes.

Carolyn Holman brought headwear appropriately named "Girl Bands" to the show along with her paintings. She started the trend of a neckband that could be worn as a headband or a hat out of necessity.

"I started pulling my neck band around my head to compensate for bad hair days. It evolved from that," she said. "Then I decided I'd like to wear them in the summer and experimented with lighter-weight fabrics."

An artist by trade, she donates part of the proceeds to animal rescue. She also makes hats for chemotherapy patients and has been marketing to hospitals. She creates Bandito Bands for men.

Artist Paul Alan Bennett made a bold stand in a tent full of women. Bennett creates with opaque and transparent watercolor.

"Every culture has weaving," Bennett said. "I bring in those feelings without copying, and can make it my own style. I have been working on expanding my imaginary landscape series. I start with color and let it expand from there."

The art show was rounded out with photographs, books, sculptures, jewelry, and pottery.