Artists display work at Ranch

The Gallery at Black Butte Ranch welcomed an exhibit of the art of Pate Gonzalez and her husband, Kevin Van Driesche, with an artist reception and wine tasting last Saturday afternoon.

Van Driesche, a native Oregonian who has been coming to Black Butte Ranch with his family for nearly 40 years said, "It's great to have our work displayed here at the Ranch. I have a lot of memories of coming over here as a kid, and it's nice to now have our work on display here."

Gonzalez, along with Van Driesche, lives and works in Portland. Pate holds fine-art degrees from both the San Francisco Art Institute and Portland State University. Gonzalez' work consists of abstract shapes and forms from nature as well as reinterpretations of iconic images from art and design.

Trying to not place her art in any one specific genre, Gonzalez describes her work as "generically, mixed-media abstract painting."

Having studied and practiced fine-art photography for nearly 20 years, Van Driesche more recently began to take his abstracted images and use them either directly or as inspiration to make 'encaustic' paintings.

Originally developed by ancient Greek shipbuilders, encaustic painting involves the application of hot wax and pigment to a variety of mediums. Van Driesche combines his own mix of melted beeswax, and damar, a natural stabilizing agent. Working quickly, he adds pigments to the wax mixture using various instruments and materials to build one layer upon another.

Van Driesche said, "Each layer must be burned in and smoothed out using a propane torch to bond one layer to the next. It's very labor-intensive."

Gonzalez and Van Driesche are also partners in Valley Rowe Art & Design of Portland. Valley Rowe is a studio-based collective where they share their creative ideas while also pursuing their own individual inspirations.

The artwork of Gonzalez and Van Driesche will be on display at The Gallery at Black Butte Ranch through the end of June, and can also be viewed online at www.valleyrowe.com.