High Desert Gallery of Central Oregon

I Heart Oregon - Opens At High Desert Gallery February 4, 2011 - Bend Oregon

Come for the ART, stay for the LOVE. Come celebrate with us as we host “I Heart Oregon,” an exhibition of Original Fine Art featuring work by more than 10 outstanding Oregon artists. I Heart Oregon, exhibiting two and three dimensional original art with imagery and interpreted visions of love, passion, intimacy and delight, runs from February 4, 2011 through March 2, 2011 at High Desert Gallery's downtown Bend Oregon art gallery located at 10 NW Minnesota Avenue at The Oxford, and will feature an Artist Reception.

First Friday Gallery Walk and Artist Reception: Friday, February 4, from 5 to 9pm. Meet the artists, enjoy great conversation and refreshments from 5:30 to 8:30pm during First Friday Gallery Walk. A hoot for sure!

 

I Heart Oregon participating artists include High Desert Gallery artists: Paul Alan Bennett, Kathy Deggendorfer, Ingrid Lustig, Patty Freeman-Martin, Sue Favinger Smith, Lisa Kaser, Shannon Weber, Morgan Madison, Valerie Winterholler, Janet Rothermel, Cheyenne Malcolm, and maybe a special guest artist or two!

Image: "Crossroads" and "Canyons" Original acrylic on paper by Valerie Winterholler.

About High Desert Gallery: High Desert Gallery, The Art & Soul of Central Oregon™ is an award winning fine art and custom picture framing gallery with retail gallery locations in downtown Bend, Oregon and Sisters Oregon. High Desert Frameworks!, the award-winning framing studio for the gallery, is located at 61 NW Oregon Avenue at Lava in downtown Bend, Oregon. The gallery specializes in Central Oregon Artists & Beyond™ and Stellar Custom Framing. For more information please visit: http://www.highdesertgallery.com or call toll free 1-866-549-6250.

Want to be in the know? Then follow us on via Google Buzz, RSS, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to our blog. To download your free iTunes or Android app visit: High Desert Gallery App Store.  The Art & Soul of Central Oregon™ and Central Oregon Artists & Beyond™ are trademarks of High Desert Gallery & Custom Framing of Central Oregon.

Myrna Dow Takes Top Honors at the 2010-2011 Professional Picture Framers Association Regional Competition

Myrna Dow was awarded First Place Print Competition and First Place Open Competition at the Professional Picture Framers Association (PPFA) Cascade Chapter (Oregon - Washington) regional competition held in September, 2010, at Newberg Gallery. 

No stranger to stiff competition, Dow has distinguished herself with prior honors in the PPFA’s International Framing Competitions, including Top Honors and First Place.  "These events are always exciting," she says.  "You're up against some of the best custom picture framers in the industry."

Myrna Dow received First Place in the Print Competition, where all entrants framed "Fall Color – Blue Sky," a digital photograph of an autumn leaf floating on blue water.  "It was definitely a challenge," she says, adding that the choice was designed to test the level of the framer’s skill. "Even though the print was unsigned, we needed to treat it as if it would hang in a museum forever.  A framer’s technical abilities, understanding of conservation techniques, and design sense all come into play.  So a challenge, yes!"

Dow also received First Place in the Open Competition, where entrants framed an item of the framer’s choice.  Dow selected a solar print by John Simpkins.  “I was very happy with the results. When finished, it felt solid, felt right," she said, adding, "You do everything you can and put yourself out there.”

All professional custom picture framers in the Cascades Chapter of the PPFA were eligible to enter the regional competition, where preservation materials and practices for custom framing were encouraged and scored.  The custom framing entries in the Print Competition were judged on four critical components, including overall impressions, design and creative elements, technique, and critical assessment of skills. "These events demonstrate how important professional custom framing is when protecting artwork, so that it will last forever."

Dow received perfect scores from noted custom framing expert Paul MacFarland, who flew in to judge the competition, as well as a local judge.  "I do what every framer should be doing," she explains. "I look at the artwork first, then focus on framing that supports the artwork esthetically, using the best in conservation technique.  It’s what I love about these competitions - the demonstrated skill level is extremely high. It forces me to do my very best and push my abilities to the highest level.  And they’re really, really fun."

First, second, third, and honorable mention winners from each of the chapters' competitions are eligible to advance to the International Competition.  Competition rules allow us to show you the image used for the Print Competition, but all other images will have to wait until after the results of 2010-2011 PPFA International PRINT and OPEN Framing Competition are revealed.  Judging will take place during the PPFA Annual Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, Sept. 8-10, 2011.

The print selected for the 2011 International Framing Competition is "Fall Color – Blue Sky," a digital photograph reproduction using Epson Ultrachrome inks on Epson Premium Luster "E" Surface paper, by artist Linda Sutton, from The Artist’s Eye, Woodland Hills, California.

About Myrna Dow: Myrna Dow, owner, director, and professional picture framer of High Desert Gallery and High Desert Frameworks! has a background in the arts and framing industry spanning more than twenty years. Earning a BFA in Graphic Arts from Portland State, Dow first started in the graphic arts field working for several large agencies and type houses. In the early 80's she began her career in the gallery business as a sales associate and gallery manager. After several years, she migrated to the custom framing environment and mentored with an accomplished professional picture framer. In 1999 Dow relocated to Central Oregon and soon thereafter established High Desert Gallery & Custom Framing of Central Oregon.

Prior Awards: International Framing Awards earned by High Desert Gallery include First Place and Top Honors in the Professional Picture Framing Association (PPFA) 2007-2008 International Open Framing Competition, Third Place in the Professional Picture Framing Association 2008-2009 International Print Framing Competition, and Top Honors and "Best Use of Fabric" in the Professional Picture Framing Association (PPFA) 2009-2010 International Print Framing Competition. Numerous PPFA Regional Chapter awards have been earned by High Desert Gallery and High Desert Frameworks including two first place awards in 2010-2011 Print and Open Framing Competitions.  Other awards for High Desert Gallery include honored in 2005, 2006 and 2007 by Decor Magazine as a "Top 100 Art and Framing Gallery in America" and voted "Best Art Gallery" in Sisters, Oregon (2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010).

About PPFA: Serving the art and framing community worldwide, the Professional Picture Framers Association™ (PPFA®) encourages artisans to hone the time-honored skill of custom framing. As the professional trade association for the custom framing industry, PPFA connects frame shops, art galleries and suppliers to a network of knowledge and support. PPFA, a PMA® member association, builds on its 38-year history of establishing best practices for framing and providing programs and services essential for entrepreneurial success. Through education, certification, business services, industry research, and events, PPFA leads its members to discover, understand, and act on new business opportunities.

Sue Favinger Smith Accepted into Oil Painters of America Western Regional Exhibition

High Desert Gallery and Central Oregon's own, Sue Favinger Smith’s oil painting, Grasslands in Winter, has been accepted into the Oil Painters of America’s Western Regional Exhibition.  Included paintings were selected from hundreds of entries and represent some of the finest work being produced in the western half of the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The OPA Western Regional Exhibition will be held at Mountain Trails Gallery in Jackson, Wyoming, from October 6 through November 20, 2010.

“I work hard at learning what I need to know,” Sue Smith explains. Her process usually begins with repeated visits to the locations that interest her visually, looking for the details that best capture moments of transition. “Grasslands in Winter depicts one of my favorite elements in the high desert – storms that sweep across the grasslands in early Spring and then again in the Fall, clearing the air and marking the changing seasons. Feeling the force of the cold wind, the bite of the rain, seeing the quality of the light dip and change – it’s a very powerful experience.” The painting was inspired by several visits to an area east of Maupin, in Central Oregon, where the only sign of human habitation is the paved road and the telephone poles. “One could almost imagine being in another century if it weren’t for those poles.”

Painted with a Tonalist palette but an Impressionist sensibility, Smith combined impasto palette knife work with smoother brush strokes to create a visual sense of what she wanted to communicate – a sense of immediacy in the imagery. “It’s when the ordinary-ness of life transforms into that instant of pure awareness of what it feels like to be alive.”

Sue Favinger Smith has been creating art since childhood, but her serious efforts began twelve years ago when she took classes at Oregon State University – Cascades.  “I realized I’d been waiting my entire life to do this and I haven’t looked back.”

After graduating with the Distinguished Student – Department of Art Award, Smith set out to explore the idea of landscape, pushing traditional approaches with contemporary ideas.  A brief study in Italy convinced the artist of the value in getting out and studying nature.  To find subjects to paint, Smith returned to the high desert, where the fugitive qualities of the light, the isolation and changing weather has traditionally inspired artists such as American Impressionist Childe Hassam.  “The landscape invites me to explore – where does this road lead, what does that storm feel like, who lived here hundreds or thousands of years ago - in a way these ghosts of landscapes past are my best friends – my muse.”

Sue Favinger Smith is a juried member of the National Association of Women Artists, an associate member of Women Artists of the West, and an associate Member of Oil Painters of America. She is represented by High Desert Gallery in Bend, Oregon.

Podcast - Patricia Freeman Martin talks about www.6XA6.com, Atelier 6000 and Original Prints

---

What's 6XA6?  High Desert Gallery Artists have worked at Atelier 6000 (A6) to produce a selection of original hand pulled fine art block prints, etchings, and monoprints. Selected artists include: Cristina Acosta, Grace Bishko, Glen Corbett, Paul Alan Bennett, Patricia Freeman-Martin, Kimry Jelen, Ingrid Lustig and John Simpkins.   Our two artist receptions are help on Thursday September 2, 2010 and Friday September 3 from 5-9pm are over but the show hangs through September 2010. 

Need directions to High Desert Gallery?  Visit:  Find Us!  or call 541-388-8964 / 866-549-6250.

For more information and to view images and read artist statements please visit: 6XA6

About High Desert Gallery & High Desert Frameworks!: High Desert Gallery, The Art & Soul of Central Oregon™ is an award winning fine art and custom picture framing gallery with two High Desert Gallery retail locations in Bend, Oregon, and Sisters Oregon and High Desert Frameworks! located at 61 NW Oregon  Avenue at Lava in downtown Bend, Oregon. The gallery specializes in Central Oregon Artists & Beyond™ and Stellar Custom Framing. High Desert Gallery honored in 2005, 2006 and 2007 by Decor Magazine as a "Top 100 Art and Framing Gallery in America" and voted "Best Art Gallery" in Sisters, Oregon (2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010). International Framing Awards earned by High Desert Gallery include First Place and Top Honors in the Professional Picture Framing Association (PPFA) 2007-2008 International Open Framing Competition, Third Place in the Professional Picture Framing Association 2008-2009 International Print Framing Competition, and Top Honors and "Best Use of Fabric" in the Professional Picture Framing Association (PPFA) 2009-2010 International Print Framing Competition.

For more information please visit: www.highdesertgallery.com or call toll free 1-866-549-6250.

Want to be in the know? Then follow us on via Google Buzz, RSS, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to our blog. To download your free iTunes or Android app visit: High Desert Gallery App Store.  The Art & Soul of Central Oregon™ and Central Oregon Artists & Beyond™ are trademarks of High Desert Gallery & Custom Framing of Central Oregon.

High Desert Frameworks Opens at 61 NW Oregon Street Downtown Bend Oregon

It's official -- Our frame shop move from NW Franklin Avenue is complete and we will open to the general public Monday, May 3, 2010 at 10am!  Our new location is 61 NW Oregon Avenue Suite 101, Bend Oregon 97701.  Please plan on stopping by to visit and consider bringing a framing project or two.  We have some great grand opening "deals" that are advertised online at: High Desert Frameworks Custom Framing Coupons.

Our Frameworks signs on the building should be up in the next week, so you will need to look for us -- We are next to the Fed Ex Office location and up the the street from the US Post Office.  Parking is great on the street or in the public parking structure above our frame shop.  You can also park in front of the Fed Ex Office or The First Baptist Church and you won't miss us!  For a map and hours of operations please visit: Find High Desert Frameworks!

Come Frame with Us and Save!

Your choice of one of our Grand Opening Specials valid through May 31, 2010

Grand Opening Special:  Choose one: Save 25% on Museum Glass, 25% on in stock moulding, Third mat free, or our Poster Special. Call or visit for more information. Come Frame With Us! Visit:  High Desert Frameworks Custom Framing Coupons

OR

We Speak Custom Picture Framing! Save $50 on your Custom Picture Framing order of $250 or more. Valid at High Desert Frameworks! only. Come Frame With Us! Visit:  High Desert Frameworks Custom Framing Coupons

High Desert Frameworks! is open Monday through Friday 10am to 5:30pm, Saturday 10am to 2pm and by appointment.   For more information on the gallery and framing studio please visit www.highdesertgallery.com or call High Desert Frameworks! at 541-647-2191.

About High Desert Gallery & High Desert Frameworks!: High Desert Gallery, The Art & Soul of Central Oregon™ is an award winning fine art and custom picture framing gallery with two High Desert Gallery retail locations in Bend, Oregon, and Sisters Oregon and High Desert Frameworks! located at 61 NW Oregon  Avenue at Lava in downtown Bend, Oregon. The gallery specializes in Central Oregon Artists & Beyond™ and Stellar Custom Framing. High Desert Gallery honored in 2005, 2006 and 2007 by Decor Magazine as a "Top 100 Art and Framing Gallery in America" and voted "Best Art Gallery" in Sisters, Oregon (2005, 2006, & 2008, 2009). International Framing Awards earned by High Desert Gallery include First Place and Top Honors in the Professional Picture Framing Association (PPFA) 2007-2008 International Open Framing Competition, Third Place in the Professional Picture Framing Association 2008-2009 International Print Framing Competition, and Top Honors and "Best Use of Fabric" in the Professional Picture Framing Association (PPFA) 2009-2010 International Print Framing Competition.  For more information about High Desert Gallery please visit: www.highdesertgallery.com or call toll free 1-866-549-6250.

An Interview With Oregon Artist Grace Bishko: View From the Top – Bend Oregon

High Desert Gallery is pleased to host an important new exhibition, titled "Grace Bishko: View From the Top - a Retrospective" from May 6 through the May 31, including a Preview Artist Reception to be held on Thursday, May 6, from 5 to 8pm, and a First Friday Gallery Walk Artist Reception on Friday May 7, from 5 to 9pm. The exhibit and sale will focus on hand-pulled prints and original paintings by the artist. During her more than 37 years of creating art, Grace Bishko has taught at Rutgers, Moore College of Art and University of the Arts, both in Philadelphia, and taught privately in Oaxaca, Mexico. The exceptional quality of Grace Bishko's artistic vision continues to capture the imagination.

We recently visited with Grace and talked about this show in terms of "a retrospective."  We want to share some of what she had to say about "the beginning":

“I was born in 1936, and grew up as the youngest child in a "Bohemian" family of 5 children. Our parents were from Russia, and very "Americanized" over the years. They were talented in music - they wrote it, played it, and sang it! Their love of the arts trickled down into all of our lives.

My older sister was the Director of the 1030 Art Gallery in Cleveland, Ohio. One day, she brought home casein paints, brushes and a canvas, and I started to paint. In 1946 I was 10 years old. I started painting, and never stopped. I had two sisters involved in the visual arts - one became an art teacher - and they were my mentors well into my adult life. They planted their seeds deeply.

From 1947 to 1973, my painting education was based on what I saw in the museums and art books - the Old Masters were very important teachers. I studied their brush strokes, use of color and composition, as well as anatomy, endlessly. It was all there in their history. The only painting of my own that I have left from that period is a still life of yellow mums in a Japanese vase, which I completed in 1973. (Editor's Note: This piece will be included in the exhibition.)

Then what happened?

In 1973, the beginnings of a new "Women's Movement" in the arts prompted me to search for my own voice as an artist, and I enrolled part time in college courses. By the end of the first year my style was boldly changing into a unique style, and I was ready to enroll at The Cleveland Institute of Art full time. My portfolio was accepted, and I was given advanced standing in my art classes. By then, I had learned to listen to my inner self and appreciate the new art around me. And my images evolved into strong, female oriented concepts. I not only painted them, but also created lithographs, engravings and etchings of this imagery. At first, the students and my professors were very much against my presence in the school, and my art - and they voiced it. However, it didn't take long for them to come to appreciate my individuality, and imagery. The students picked up on my imagery, and used it well. Some of the teachers would not return my assignments to me - they kept them for themselves!

In 1980, at age 44, I received my MFA degree (Master of Fine Arts) from Rutgers. By then I had been teaching life drawing classes at Rutgers, and lithography at Moore College of Art in Philadelphia. I went on to teach Design at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. In 1996 and 1997, I taught life drawing to 15 private students, most of whom were already showing their art in Oaxaca, Mexico. This was the last time I taught classes. I know I did a good job teaching, but it took so much out of me and my own art. I just had to stop, and focus on my soul.

From then on, I worked at non art jobs to support myself and my 3 children, and I painted at night. The male imagery crept back into my work, and it was so exciting to find new stories to paint. Every year I've had a one woman show.

My son, and his sister are musicians, and they each have many students to teach. My other daughter teaches computer animation at Emily Carr Institute of Art. They all have graduate degrees. Education is so good for life.

As both a painter and a printmaker, we asked Grace to talk more about these two mediums:

Printmaking is a process that awakens me to NEW! I've been painting for so long, that it doesn't even seem like a process to me anymore. It's more like breathing. Printmaking is always a surprise - sometimes wonderful, and sometimes awful, which shakes me up and takes my breath away! My paintings have story content - sometimes brief, and sometimes very in depth. I think this clouds the process in a way. Whereas, in printing, the process makes the story.

Working at Atellier 6000 has been very exciting. I'm surrounded by wonderful artists. The inks and materials are not toxic like the "traditional" were. The founder, Pat Clark, who is an incredibly exceptional artist, is always there to offer her help. She runs the shop in a most professional manner.

We had one last question for Grace: “Which painting or print in View From the Top is your favorite?

My favorite piece in this retrospective show is "The Sabbath Bride". To me, she is not a bride to a husband. She is a bride to life. She is walking into all space, which looks empty at first, but there is so much to do, see, and feel, waiting for her in that lovely ether.

Grace Bishko, April/May, 2010

We hope you will come and enjoy this exceptional solo show at our downtown Bend, Oregon gallery location, 10 NW Minnesota Avenue at the Oxford. Meet the artist at two artist receptions, enjoy great conversation, live music, refreshments and more. The exhibition and sale runs from May 6 through May 31.

Thursday, May 6, from 5 to 8pm. Special Preview Artist Reception: Meet the artist, enjoy refreshments, live music by Erin Cole-Baker and more during this very special preview reception.

Friday, May 7, from 5 to 9pm. First Friday Gallery Walk Artist Reception: Meet Grace during the Bend, Oregon First Friday Gallery Art Walk and enjoy refreshments, live music by a Central Oregon favorite, Bellavia.

About High Desert Gallery: High Desert Gallery & Custom Framing, The Art & Soul of Central Oregon™ is an award winning fine art and custom picture framing gallery with retail gallery locations in Bend, Oregon and Sisters Oregon. High Desert Frameworks! the award-winning framing studio for the gallery is located at 61 NW Oregon Avenue at Lava in downtown Bend, Oregon. The gallery specializes in Central Oregon Artists & Beyond™ and Stellar Custom Framing. For more information please visit: www.highdesertgallery.com or call toll free 1-866-549-6250.

Want to be in the know? Then follow us on via Google Buzz, RSS, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to our blog. To download your free iTunes or Android app visit: High Desert Gallery App Store.  The Art & Soul of Central Oregon™ and Central Oregon Artists & Beyond™ are trademarks of High Desert Gallery & Custom Framing of Central Oregon.

Acclaimed Oregon Glass Artist, Morgan Madison at High Desert Gallery Bend Oregon

           
High Desert Gallery is proud to welcome acclaimed Oregon kiln-formed glass artist Morgan Madison to the gallery. Morgan's glass creations, inspired by sources as divergent as urban design and the Northwest landscape, are available for sale at our downtown Bend Oregon gallery location, 10 NW Minnesota Avenue at The Oxford.

"For as long as I can remember, my imagination has been a constant companion. Some of my most cherished childhood memories are of the times I spent in the garden or the garage creating things out of the detritus I found buried there... At heart I think I am still that same kid searching for something more out of what seems to be ordinary."

As an artist, Morgan Madison quickly found his niche in drawing and sculpture, but a chance encounter with the process of kiln formed glass opened the door to experimentation. Drawing on his background in fine arts, Morgan developed his ideas technically and conceptually, earning the respect of the Pacific Northwest glass community and gaining national recognition. Morgan Madison's work reveals an eye for the unique and a creative curiosity that has evolved into compelling and beautifully ethereal glass art that ranges from functional pieces to mixed media sculptures and wall panels. His work is exhibited throughout the Americas and is in numerous private collections and public spaces.

Works: Left to right. To inquire or purchase call 866-549-6250 or visit High Desert Gallery in Bend Oregon at 10 NW Minnesota Avenue at The Oxford.

"Shade" Kiln formed /cold worked glass sculpture with steel base, 12” x 5.75” x 0.5”, 2010

"Shift #12" Kiln formed / cold worked glass, 10” x 15” x 0.5” , 2010

"Drift #3" Kiln formed / cold worked glass sculpture with steel base, 19” x 8.5” x 0.5” , 2010

About High Desert Gallery: High Desert Gallery & Custom Framing, The Art & Soul of Central Oregon™ is an award winning fine art and custom picture framing gallery with retail gallery locations in Bend, Oregon and Sisters Oregon. High Desert Frameworks! the award-winning framing studio for the gallery is located at 61 NW Oregon Avenue at Lava in downtown Bend, Oregon. The gallery specializes in Central Oregon Artists & Beyond™ and Stellar Custom Framing. For more information please visit: www.highdesertgallery.com or call toll free 1-866-549-6250.

Want to be in the know? Then follow us on via Google Buzz, RSS, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to our blog. To download your free iTunes app visit: High Desert Gallery iPhone App at the App Store.The Art & Soul of Central Oregon™ and Central Oregon Artists & Beyond™ are trademarks of High Desert Gallery & Custom Framing of Central Oregon.

Myrna Dow receives Top Honors at the 2010 Professional Picture Framers Association International Framing Competition.

High Desert Gallery of Central Oregon is honored to announce that Gallery Director, Myrna Dow, has again received Top Honors from the Professional Picture Framing Association (PPFA) at the 2009-2010 International Framing Competition, held February 21 through 23, in Anaheim, California.

Myrna Dow was awarded the Judges Award for Best Use of Fabrics during the 2010 Professional Picture Framers Association (PPFA) International Framing Competition. This award is another in a distinguished list of awards that Myrna Dow has received at the PPFA's International Framing Competition, including Top Honors, Top Point Earner for First Time Entry Award, and First Place Award for 2008, and Third Place Award for 2009.

In November of 2009, High Desert Gallery announced that Myrna Dow had framed “Heart Rod Guitar” by artist Rod Morris, and received First Place, Top Honors, and People's Choice Awards from the Pacific Northwest Cascades Chapter of the PPFA 2009-2010 Regional Framing Print Competition. We could reveal a sneak peek at the artwork then but not the completed framed artwork until after the International competition.

Here is the award winning framed print. Myrna Dow hand-wrapped fabrics over beveled mats and added a fillet that complimented both the artwork and the frame. The choice of fabric requires an experienced eye for color and texture combinations that will work effectively, adding visual interest and elegance. The fabric, selected from The Stitchin' Post of Sisters Oregon, must then be measured and cut, and carefully applied using archival glue, bone folders, and gentle heat. While time and labor intensive, the finished piece demonstrates what fine art custom framing can accomplish in the presentation of your artwork.

Art Image: "Heart Rod Guitar" by artist Rod Morris - antique Holbein watercolor applied to gesso on watercolor paper, pastel and felt tip pen, acrylic spray, 3 inches by 17.5 inches. For the official Press Release and complete list of all PPFA winners please visit:  2010 Professional Picture Framers Association (PPFA) International Framing Competition.

About Myrna Dow: Myrna Dow, owner, director, and professional picture framer of High Desert Gallery and High Desert Frameworks! has a background in the arts and framing industry spanning more than twenty five years. Earning a BFA in Graphic Arts from Portland State, Dow first started in the graphic arts field working for several large agencies and type houses. In the early 80's she began her career in the gallery business as a sales associate and gallery manager. After several years, she migrated to the custom framing environment and mentored with an accomplished professional picture framer. In 1999 Dow relocated to Central Oregon and soon thereafter established High Desert Gallery & Custom Framing of Central Oregon. The constants in Myrna Dow's artistic vision include innovative design principles, expert knowledge of preservation materials and practices, and an expert understanding of color.

About High Desert Gallery: High Desert Gallery & Custom Framing, The Art & Soul of Central Oregon™ is an award winning fine art and custom picture framing gallery with retail gallery locations in Bend, Oregon and Sisters Oregon. High Desert Frameworks! the award-winning framing studio for the gallery is located at 61 NW Oregon Avenue at Lava in downtown Bend, Oregon. The gallery specializes in Central Oregon Artists & Beyond™ and Stellar Custom Framing. For more information please visit: www.highdesertgallery.com or call toll free 1-866-549-6250.

Top Custom Picture Framing Award: Myrna Dow Honored by PPFA

High Desert Gallery Of Central Oregon  is honored to announce that Gallery Director, Myrna Dow, has again received top honors from the Professional Picture Framing Association (PPFA) in the 2009-2010 Pacific Northwest Cascades Chapter Print Framing competition.

Each year, PPFA chapters hold their annual Print Competition, where entrants frame the same piece, and the Open Competition, where entrants frame an item of the framer's choice. Entries are judged on a variety of criteria, including expert knowledge of preservation materials and practices, overall impression of the creative design, technical skills necessary to achieve the unified goal, design and creative elements, and a critical assessment of skills. The judging is rigorous and the professional picture framers placing First, Second, Third, and honorable mention advance to the International Competition.

Myrna Dow competed in the Print Framing Competition on November 1, 2009, in Portland, Oregon, and was awarded First Place, Top Honors and Peoples Choice Awards. These honors join a long list of prior International Framing distinctions, including First Place and Top Honors in the Professional Picture Framing Association (PPFA) 2007-2008 International Open Framing Competition and Third Place in the Professional Picture Framing Association 2008-2009 International Print Framing Competition.

Myrna Dow framed "Heart Rod Guitar" by artist Rod Morris, and her entry will continue on to the PPFA International Print and Open Framing Competition to be held during the PPFA Annual Convention in Anaheim, California, February 20 – 23, 2010. We've included a sneak peek at the artwork – we can't reveal the complete framed artwork until after the International Competition in February, 2010. 

Myrna Dow has been the creative force behind High Desert Gallery of Central Oregon, and High Desert Frameworks!, which currently offers Fine Art and Custom Framing in Art Galleries located in Sisters, Redmond, and two locations in Bend, Oregon. The constants in her artistic vision include innovative design principles, expert knowledge of preservation materials and practices, and an expert understanding of color.

About Myrna Dow:  Myrna Dow, owner, director, and professional picture framer of High Desert Gallery and High Desert Frameworks! has a background in the arts and framing industry spanning more than twenty years. Earning a BFA in Graphic Arts from Portland State, Dow first started in the graphic arts field working for several large agencies and type houses. In the early 80's she began her career in the gallery business as a sales associate and gallery manager. After several years, she migrated to the custom framing environment and mentored with an accomplished professional picture framer. In 1999 Dow relocated to Central Oregon and soon thereafter established High Desert Gallery & Custom Framing of Central Oregon.

About High Desert Gallery: High Desert Gallery & Custom Framing, The Art & Soul of Central Oregon™ is an award winning fine art and custom picture framing gallery with three High Desert Gallery retail locations in Bend, Oregon, Redmond and Sisters Oregon and High Desert Frameworks! located at 431 NW Franklin Avenue at Lava in downtown Bend, Oregon. The gallery specializes in Central Oregon Artists & Beyond™ and Stellar Custom Framing. High Desert Gallery honored in 2005, 2006 and 2007 by Decor Magazine as a "Top 100 Art and Framing Gallery in America" and voted "Best Art Gallery" in Redmond, Oregon (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009) and Sisters, Oregon (2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009). International Framing Awards earned by High Desert Gallery include First Place and Top Honors in the Professional Picture Framing Association (PPFA) 2007-2008 International Open Framing Competition and Third Place in the Professional Picture Framing Association 2008-2009 International Print Framing Competition. For more information please visit: www.highdesertgallery.com or call toll free 1-866-549-6250. Follow us on Friend Feed, Get gallery updates via email or RSS.  -- track, follow or subscribe to us!  Visit: High Desert Gallery Social Media. The Art & Soul of Central Oregon™ and Central Oregon Artists & Beyond™ are trademarks of High Desert Gallery & Custom Framing of Central Oregon.

Image: "Heart Rod Guitar" by artist Rod Morris - antique Holbein watercolor applied to gesso on watercolor paper, pastel and felt tip pen, acrylic spray, 3 inches by 17.5 inches.

Creating the I AM – An Interview with Jacob Norris

High Desert Gallery has been a fan of Jacob Norris since we saw his show at The Sparrow Bakery a few years ago, and we are honored and pleased to represent Jacob's work in our new Bend Oregon Art Gallery in the Oxford Hotel, located at 10 NW Minnesota at Lava, in downtown Bend.   Recently, our Bend Gallery Manager, Kim, had an opportunity to sit down with Jacob and learn more about the passions driving this emerging young artist.

Kim: Your work has an exuberance that makes us think there's nothing else you'd rather be doing. Did you always want to be an artist?

Jacob: I always wanted to paint. I love the romance of the artist – the idea, the notion of what art is, to me. I feel I am a vessel for painting, a beam of light that resonates through me, bending light into the form of a painting.

Kim: How would you describe your love affair with paint?

Jacob: My love affair with painting is ...a dependent arising...a cycle of healing – the everything...

Kim: How do you start a painting?

Jacob: I am more of an intuitive painter, but I also try to balance conceptual elements to ground myself.

Kim: How is your art different?

Jacob: I choose to create from a place of no mind and that allows me to be original. If I chose to think about my work – my self conscious would take over and then I would become a vessel of conditioning.

Kim: What stories do you tell through your art?

Jacob: They are timeless stories of human emotion.

Kim: What artistic influences do you draw upon the most?

Jacob: Directly, the artists I create with are Ken Roth and Nathaniel Praska. They show me a template, we bounce ideas and techniques off each other, and on a spiritual level they listen – we are brothers. Historically, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Tom Thomson and the Impressionism period, for their use of color and sense of design elements.

Kim: Where do you want to be in ten years?

Jacob: How I see my future is living and creating in Europe with my family, my bike, a wool blanket and my paint box. Making my own paints and brushes. I want to move into portraiture and abstracts and use a primitive imagery that is less anchored in one genre. I want to push the boundaries of what I know or what everyone else knows of art, but with a level of simple restraint and subtlety.

Kim: What accomplishments are most important to you?

Jacob: Being in a gallery. I have wanted this since I was a small child. It is an honor to be accepted by the community and my peers.

Kim: Do you have an artist statement?

Jacob: It's a poem.

Ocean

Like a blind man seeing for the first time

Sacred, Spiritual, Natural

Playful, Honest, Present

I play the instrument of painting for all to hear

Move free falling like a fool

Singing like the birds in all weather

Riding the wave on the surfboard of Now

Create the I AM

Sacred Balance

In accordance to hand, heart, head.

About Jacob Norris:  As a young boy, Jacob Norris was inspired by his grandfather, Walter Joseph Norris II, an oil painter and artist. Jacob's first art experience was also influenced by his grandfather, when he copied a painting of Mt. Jefferson in pencil, before moving on to charcoal, which Jacob describes as "an extension of my fingers." During a year on the coast, Jacob spent much of his time studying A Field Guide to Western Birds by Roger Paterson. The illustrations of birds, painted by the author, lead Jacob toward painting his own images of birds, in oil on panel, and toward the goal of one day printing his own book of painted birds of the area. In high school, Jacob met Ken Roth, a respected art teacher and successful artist in his own right. Jacob says, “Meeting Ken was a turning point in my art career – he gave me a voice in my artwork – he let me sing.” While Ken Roth was Jacob's mentor in high school, he now sees his former student as a contemporary, and often paints with Jacob and Portland based artist Nathaniel Praska en plein air. Jacob has exhibited regionally and is represented in Central Oregon by High Desert Gallery. He touches the soul of those he meets and continues to paint, dream, and live the romance of the artist. 

About High Desert Gallery: High Desert Gallery & Custom Framing, The Art & Soul of Central Oregon™ is an award winning fine art and custom picture framing gallery with three High Desert Gallery retail locations in Bend, Oregon, Redmond and Sisters Oregon and one High Desert Frameworks! located in downtown Bend, Oregon. The gallery specializes in Central Oregon Artists & Beyond™ and Stellar Custom Framing. For more information please visit: www.highdesertgallery.com or call toll free 1-866-549-6250.