Painters push acrylic’s limits at Pacific Park Gallery
The flexibility and creative power of acrylics bedazzle Pacific Park Gallery, 1957 Thompson Rd., Coos Bay, May through July. An Artists Reception will be held 5-7 p.m., Friday, May 15.
Experimental artists Bonni Silver and Robin Longerbeam stretch the limits of the medium to produce exciting works of color, light, texture and movement. The visual depths are achieved through layering and glazing while respecting the medium’s character to flow organically into interesting patterns.
Silver paints saturated colors, linear compositions and bright focal points. Longerbeam uses layering to achieve fluidity that seems to reference shimmering blown glass. Both approaches create dynamic works inviting an emotional connection with the viewer.
“My art reflects the dynamic, fleeting and ephemeral quality of my visual experience,” said Silver. “The fun and challenge for me is to capture the essence of these images before they leave me.”
Silver, a Coos Bay native, has traveled the world as a teacher of English as a Second Language. She recently returned to the Oregon Coast from Hawaii, where her abstract paintings are displayed at the Gallery of Great Things and PAU Restaurant. In 2014, Silver’s work “Lucid” received an Honorable Mention at the CAM Biennial and her work is currently included in the Expressions West exhibit at Coos Art Museum in Coos Bay.
Silver will also exhibit hand-pulled prints.
Longerbeam’s current work takes the influences of nature and man-made objects to emphasize the interactions of the past, present and future.
“My hope is that the viewer will be pulled into a calmer, more rational and gentler world,” said Longerbeam.
The New York native’s art education includes instruction at the Art Student’s League in Manhattan. She has been featured in art magazines, “NW Creative Arts Magazine”, “New Art International,” and she was a Liquitex Artist of the Month. Longerbeam’s work has been exhibited in galleries throughout the West. Longerbeam is now a resident of Newport.
The reception event is free and the public is welcome to attend. Pacific Park Gallery is an exhibit space managed by artists for artists. For information or to receive a Call to Artists, contact artistjanuary@gmail.com.
