Art show attracts scores of enthusiasts

The Friday-evening juried art show and silent auction got the show on the road for the 20th annual Country Fair held at The Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration last weekend.

Blue skies and a cool summer evening proved the perfect ambiance for artists and visitors. The natural lighting was the perfect backdrop for an artists' showcase.

Guests enthusiastically bid on items that lined the entryway that led into the art show. The auction with items donated by local artists and businesses was run by Gayle Rodrigues.

"We have nearly 140 items, a little bit more than last year. There are lovely things donated by our artists and gift certificates from businesses, and also many of the church members have made things for the auction like fused glass, quilts, and paintings," Rodrigues said. "We also have a lot of fun things for tomorrow during the Country Fair."

The art show had an eclectic mix of fine art from watercolors to sculptures, including a handmade guitar crafted by Rotarian Rick Judy in Tony Cosby's woodworking class at Sisters High School, where he volunteers.

Volunteer Jan Shaver, co-coordinator/chairman for the juried art show, was busy mingling among the huge crowd of artists and visitors.

"This year is the first time for Carol Zosel, co-chairman, and me to be running the art show; it was a little scary," she said. "I kept wondering if we'd have enough artists and we ended up with 60 and over 200 pieces of art, which is great and it's more than last year. We also have an art winner from last year, Bill Hamilton, who was our new juror. We had eight winners this year that we gave ribbons to, from best mixed-media to best three-dimensional."

Local artist Randall Tillery won best of show with his oil painting "Rebirth," a landscape which he painted from a photograph he took of the burned-out area near Three Creek Lake which is now in "rebirth." The gorgeous mountain view is what hooked him into painting that particular scenic landscape.

"The mountains really stood out because of the fire, and I took the photos only about a month ago and started a series of paintings from my photos taken up there," said Tillery. "I've been back into painting for about 15 years. We came from Placerville, California, about a year ago and I was painting the golden hills of California and the oaks. This is a whole new feel for me here in Sisters. It's beautiful country and it's great to be an active part of this wonderful community."

You can view other paintings by Tillery at Clearwater Gallery in Sisters.

David Rock, a professional muralist who lives east of Sisters, won director's choice for his acrylic painting, "7 Pines," a stunning landscape of six egrets flying by a cluster of pine trees around a lake.

"This is my smallest painting and it's 36 by 42," Rock said. "Most of my murals are in the hundreds of square feet. Last year I did a 10,000-square-foot mural for a museum in Springfield, Missouri and 4,500-square-feet savannah scene for the Bronx Zoo in New York as a backdrop behind the bird exhibit. That's where I got my start, at the Bronx zoo, painting murals behind exhibits back in 1982. We have lived just outside of Sisters for two years now and love it, but I have lived here before."

Rock also lived in Sisters back in the early 1980s when the High Desert Museum was opening "The Spirit of the West" exhibit. He painted the murals behind the exhibit.

The Country Fair and juried art show is always free, and all the proceeds are donated to local community-support agencies.