Artist Studio Tour 2024: Start with an intimate space

The 2024 Artist Studio Tour, sponsored by the Sisters Arts Association, will take place Saturday and Sunday, September 21-22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in and around Sisters. Here is a look at what you can see in galleries in Sisters. Next week, we'll take a look at artists' private studios.

You may start at any of the dozen locations – but a bright and friendly place to begin is Space in Common at 351 W. Hood Ave., where you will find four artists: Raina Verhey, Taylor Manoles, Maren + Laura, and Amelia Morton, gallery owner and host.

Photo by Helen Schmidling

Taylor Manoles and Raina Verhey at Space in Common.

If you haven't been to Space in Common lately, this will be new to you. There will be live painting happening, with each of the artists taking turns. Morton will also take signups for classes to be offered in November and December.

Raina Verhey has moved to painting impressionistic landscapes inspired by her travels through the desert southwest and Oregon's own high desert. Her new work is an emotional deep dive into the spirit of stone and sand in ancient and sacred places, and explores new texture and color, according to Morton.

Photo provided

"Guardian Sage" by Raina Verhey.

"Raina paints her feelings using a sense of place, which is why, for her, traveling to each location is important," she said. You can look for creams, beiges, tans, and pale greens set against a vivid blue sky, with shapes that are larger and closer in focus. Verhey grew up in Georgia, but fell in love with the West. She is working out of a new studio at Camp Clay in Bend.

Taylor Manoles continues to paint contemporary Oregon landscapes, including scenes from Eastern Oregon, Madras, and Warm Springs. Born in Arizona and raised in Minnesota, Manoles has lived in many different settings. She describes her method as painting her way through her camera roll, and says some of her best references are those taken from the passenger seat of a car. Manoles has a degree in art education from Dakota State University in Fargo. After one year of teaching middle school, she decided to pursue her own work, full time. Her work is shown across the Northwest. In 2023, her piece, "Painted Hills," won the Curator's Choice Award at the High Desert Museum's show, Art in the West.

Morton, who opened her gallery just a year ago in June, is creating a new series of framed watercolor moons, in a five-by-five-inch format.

"I have been painting moons for years," she said. "It started as a warm-up exercise for other paintings, but I find that people have really connected with them. It's a personal exercise for me, but the fact that people like them is a bonus." She will also display a fresh series of framed portals, inspired by local landscapes and the night sky.

This will be one of the few times, outside of the holiday season, that the work of Maren + Laura will be available for sale. In addition to earrings and pendants, there will be figurines, pendants, vases, platters, and cups. Maren + Laura Ceramics is a collaboration between childhood friends Maren Veloso and Laura Campbell. They create an ongoing collection of small-batch porcelain with one-of-a-kind cobalt painting.

From Space in Common, it's just a few steps to The Rickards Gallery, where Dan Rickards and Garth Williams will be in residence. Williams is known for his impressionistic oil paintings of aspens and mountains, inspired by his grandfather, and by the work of his friend and mentor, Robert Moore. Dan Rickards is most well known for his wildlife and landscape paintings in oil. For the past several months, he has been exploring new colors and formats, including portraits.

Cross the street and a few steps farther, visit Sisters Gallery and Frame to meet Jennifer Hartwig, known by those who love her work as The Scratchboard Lady. Hartwig rises as early as 4 a.m. most mornings to spend a few hours literally scratching from the dark into the light (both on the boards, and in her studio) before heading to her day job at Central Woof and Groom. She is one of the few scratchboard artists to go beyond black-and-white and include vivid colors in her work.

Next door is Toriizaka Art where three artists will display their unique talents: crystalline porcelain vessels by AJ Evansen, watercolor paintings by Don Zylius, and abstract acrylic art by Henriette Heiny.

Before departing the downtown Sisters area, be sure to visit Ken Merrill's Canyon Creek Pottery at 310 N. Cedar St. All of his work is hand made in the studio behind the gallery.

"Turning mud into a functional piece of art is a magical thing," he says. This is the 20th anniversary of Canyon Creek Pottery in Sisters. "We are a little hard to find, but if you enjoy fine handmade pottery, it is a must-see and well worth the effort," says Merrill.

Tour Guides for this event are available in Sisters galleries, at Sisters Coffee and Fika Coffee, Paulina Springs Books, and online at sistersartsassociation.org. The Artist Studio Tour is self-guided, and there is no charge. Artists retain 100 percent of sales and may even feature specials.