Art show brings out regional talent

The juried community art show and silent auction on Friday evening kicked off the 19th annual Country Fair held at The Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration last weekend.

The show is held in the church's community hall, where the natural lighting provides the perfect backdrop for an artists' showcase.

"This year's show is one of the best collections of art that I have ever seen, and we had 50 entries," said Margery Guthrie, art director for the fair. "We have so much talent sitting in one room with many new artists and they are well known in the area. And what is so wonderful about the show is that all the proceeds go right back into the community."

The eclectic assortment of original high-quality oils, watercolors, pastels, acrylics, sculptures, photography, porcelain and outdoor art was juried by Bend watercolor artist Patricia Porter.

"This is a real honor for me to have been asked to jury the art show," Porter said. "It was a lot fun for me and I fell in love with many pieces of art. When selecting pieces a few things that I focused on were the design, composition and technical competence used in the medium."

The silent-auction items showcased the entryway that lead into the art show. The auction, run by Gayle Rodrigues, had something for every taste from art pieces donated by local artists to gift baskets from local businesses.

"These beautiful donated items are from almost every artist that's in the show, local businesses, and from church patrons. We are also glad for the wonderful weather, since last year we had a severe downpour," Rodrigues said.

Although it was a packed house, folks enjoyed the comfortable atmosphere and mingled among friends and artists.

Artist Gil Dellinger was on hand, standing by his acrylic-on-panel painting, "The Roar of Mighty Force-Glacier National Park," which won Best of Show. He was chatting with onlookers who were admiring his painting of a cascading waterfall.

"My wife, Alexa, and I have lived in Bend for only about a year now," he said. "We came from Stockton, California, where I was a professor of art at the University of the Pacific for 30 years. I have a couple of other paintings in the show: one of Mt. Washington and the other of South Sister. We enjoy living in Central Oregon since it's alive with the arts. Alexa plays the fiddle and the Celtic harp and I teach plein air workshops."

Enjoying the gourmet finger-foods being served, artist and Rotarian Rick Judy and photographer Tom Davis were admiring each other's work.

"Every year I walk around Tollgate and other areas in the winter and search for the perfect frozen puddle to shoot with my camera," said Davis. "Each photo is uniquely different. There are so many different views from people as to what it looks like. This is my first time entering in the art show, and I was encouraged by Rick Judy to do so."

Proceeds from the fair and art show are dispersed throughout the community of Sisters.