This week, we’re going to switch our focus away from the abstraction of the pieces in last week’s blog to landscapes. That doesn’t mean to say that the five artists who we have chosen all paint representative landscapes. The works that we will showcase below show a rich range of styles and diversity of approach, which we hope will make for a fascinating read for you. From the blog colors of Jon Jay Cruson, to the deep calmness of Maud Durland, to the surreal and dream-like images of Agnes Forgo Kovacs, we have a rich variety of pieces available from our member artists.
Each of these pieces of art is, as of the blog’s publication, available to rent or purchase. For more information about these pieces and to see more examples of these artists’ work, you can either come into the gallery or visit the Artists page of our website.
Jeanne Levasseur
Jeanne describes her work as being “particularly inspired and awed by the striking terrain as well as the tumultuous and temperamental skies of the Pacific Northwest”. Rather than represent each setting with a faithful accuracy to the original physical source, she strives to capture and evoke a sense of spirit and emotional intimacy using shape, color, light and space. “My art,” she says, “stands as an embodiment of inward states of mind and being, and serves as the receptacle of reminiscence, longing, loneliness and promise.”
Jon Jay Cruson
Jon Jay is an artist of more than 45 years experience and has been a member artist at RSG since the 1980s. Over the course of his long career, he has taken his work in many different directions. However, as he explains, he recently made trips throughout the Pacific Northwest and there “I rediscovered the vast spaces, clear skies and landscapes of my childhood. They exhilarate, inspire, and liberate me.” This is clearly shown in his striking, pared-down landscapes, filled with big skies and vivid colors, yet which feel deeply familiar and representative of this region.
Agnes Forgo Kovacs
Agnes began her artistic training in her native Hungary and she has been exhibiting her imaginative and surreal landscapes in the Portland area since the 1990s, becoming a member artist at RSG during that time. Each piece is finished with incredible precision, capturing a rich range of textures and colors, which combine together with the content to produce images that feel as if they have come straight from a vivid dream. These landscapes, though imagined, feel truly real and as if they have come straight from real life.
Maud Durland
Maud is an award-winning watercolorist from Portland and a signature member of the Northwest Watercolor Society. She is known for her calming renderings of landscapes and waterscapes, where the interplay of light and shadow make up an essential component of her works. Born in Sweden, art has been a part of her life since an early age, and now, her works can be found in public, private and corporate collections all across the US and Europe. She has been active member of RSG for a number of years and has displayed more than 60 of her peaceful, contemplative paintings in the gallery.
Don Bishop
An impressionist painter who lives in Portland, OR, Don is consistently inspired by the beautiful scenery and light which makes the Pacific Northwest such a magical area. Spring and summer months often find him painting outside in the plein air style, while the winter months bring mostly studio work. He sees his work as a continual growth process, which usually involves creating several paintings at a time. RSG holds a variety of Don’s works, which includes his softly-rendered, but strikingly-colored landscapes, images of urban Portland and more surreal, simplified pieces, inspired by the natural world.
