Despite July’s theme of slowing down, I still feel like it came and went so fast! Even so, my efforts did yield some results: I started noticing small details of my everyday life. One of those previously overlooked details was the vibrant and bursting color of summer. Let’s take the vibrancy of this summer month and remember color as we delve into the exciting new exhibits and events!

This month, colorful paintings can be found in Ashland at Haines and Friends. In Eugene, you can find the beauty of nature made color at Maude Kerns Art Center. In Portland, explore diverse examples of color at Multnomah Arts Center Gallery, Adams and Ollman, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Sidestreet Arts, Carnation Contemporary, and Ori Gallery. In Corvallis, celebrate the Arts Center and Blackfish Gallery anniversaries at Corvallis Museum. Finally, Newport Visual Arts Center in Newport features bright and colorful sculptures. 

Window Art
Michael Reinsch
July 22- September 9
Haines and Friends
25 East Main St, Suite A, Downtown Ashland

Window Art transforms empty storefronts into lively spaces with the aid of vibrant temporary art installations in downtown Ashland run by Haines and Friends. This month’s temporary installation features the artist Michael Reinsch and his paintings that burst with color. Michael uses gimmick techniques he learns on social media and transforms them into slow, thoughtful, and formal compositions. He also uses the fast paced world of digital images print materials from the billion-dollar gifting industry.

Circling the Grove 
Lisa Brinkman, Carissa Burkett, Leanne Ellis
August 2- 23
Maude Kerns Art Center
1910 East 15th Avenue, Eugene, OR 97403

Circling the Grove features what artist Lisa Brinkman calls “the subtle mysteries of interconnectivity between psyche and Nature, between self and other, within life cycles.” In this exhibit, the three featured artists display their different creations and artwork that all hinge on the same idea of the relationship of nature and self. Lisa Brinkman’s artwork consists of botanical prints that have been steamed onto raw silk featuring images of plants, birds, animals, and celestial objects. Carissa Burkett exhibits her acorn cap sculptures in the form of organic shapes. Leanne Ellis gives newfound life to nature with the use of dried and pressed plant materials onto handmade paper. Also on display this month is Land as a Deity by Barbara Counsil Burney which features deity landscape paintings and mixed media altars. 

Arielle Brackett and Britt Block
August 2- September 7
Multnomah Arts Center Gallery
7688 SW Capitol Highway, Portland, OR 97219

Sponsor

This two person exhibit explores contemplation and action through paintings and mixed media works. Arielle Brackett’s mixed media works bring attention to the 215 species of flora and fauna that face extinction in the Tillamook Rainforest. Britt Block on the other hand, delves into our underlying world using large scale pastel drawings of detailed natural scenery. Celebrate the natural color of our world with both artists’ artwork this month.

Then & Now: Art as a Foundation
July 29- August 18
Blackfish Gallery
Corvallis Museum
411 SW 2nd St, Corvallis, OR 97333

Celebrate Corvallis’ very own Arts Center 60th anniversary and Portland gallery, Blackfish Gallery’s 45th anniversary with this exhibit that honors the vision of its founding members and uplifting new members’ ideas. Former and current artists will be on display including Clint Brown, Hannah Theiss, Paul Missal, Barbara Black, Laura Swingen, Anastasiya Gutnik, Corrine Woodman, Cynthia Spencer, Jennie Castle, and Emily Steele. A common theme among these artists is vibrant color and movement. Join the Arts Center and Blackfish Gallery for a special panel discussion on August 8th and 5:30 at the Corvallis Museum.

Her Sadness Makes Her Smile
Joy Feasley
August 3- 31
Adams and Ollman
418 NW 8th Ave, Portland, Oregon

Witness melancholic color in Her Sadness Makes her Smile by American artist Joy Feasley. While numerous paintings are on display, the focus of the exhibit are the ceramic and glass candles which explores the idea of shared grief through shared memory. The sculptural candles that take the appearance of vigil candles are symbolic objects of memory in which the viewer can relate and interact.

Never an Even Folding
Michelle Ross
August 1- 31
Elizabeth Leach Gallery
417 NW 9th, Portland, OR 97209

Explore dichotomous color, field and particle, and the poetic language of abstract paintings with Michelle Ross at Elizabeth Leach Gallery. The codependent diptychs stand center stage in this exhibit. Ross’s careful yet improvisational working methods leave behind faint traces of graphite and ghostly mark making as planning and accident collide. Also on display this month is MK Guth’s, Distant Dreamer, a multimedia exhibition of recent and on-going projects.

Sponsor

Meet Your Monsters, (A You Name It Show)
Gary Hirsch
August 1-31
Sidestreet Arts
140 SE 28th Ave, Portland, OR 97214

Gary Hirsch has given Ted Talks on creativity, mural making and his role as an artist. In Meet Your Monsters (A You Name It Show) at Sidestreet Arts, Hirsch delves deep into the rich imaginative universe inside his head. The stories and creatures inside Gary’s head are bustling and have found their way onto the physical realm through paintings. Gary invites all viewers to name the paintings on display which will be chosen by the buyer of the artwork. If your name gets chosen you win the unique prize of a hand painted domino bot made by Gary himself!

Vesselbeams
Matthew Bennett Laurents
August 3- September 1
Carnation Contemporary
8371 N Interstate Ave, Portland, OR 97217

Bright and colorful Vesselbeams by Matthew Bennett Laurents are a set of coil-built ceramic vessels. These vessels are created by a process of immediate and intuitive mark making and explore the mediums of color, form, texture, and scale. Each vessel is fully articulated and speaks a language of utility, pattern, and figurative sculpture. Vesselbeams is Laurent’s third solo show and Carnation Contemporary and is a vibrant show for fans of sculpture and ceramics.

Here, There, and Back Again
Doug Haga
August 2- September 29
Newport Visual Arts Center
777 NW Beach Drive, Newport, OR 97365

Brightly painted and embellished sculptural characters crafted from found materials created by Doug Haga are on display at Newport Visual Arts Center this month. This exhibit marks the full departure from Haga’s career of two-dimensional artwork and an embrace of three-dimensional multimedia sculptures. Inspired by the Asian concept of Wabi Sabi, a concept that marries ancient material with modern elements, Haga creates his artwork using found materials and vibrant pigments. Two other exhibits at Newport Visual Arts Center are astrophotography by Jeremy Likness titled, The Dynamic Poetry of Nature and multimedia paintings by Lincoln City artist, Ben Soeby.

ROOM-innate
Lady Tournament (Jzl Jmz)
August 2- September 27th
Ori Gallery
4038 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR 97217

Sponsor

ROOM-innate is an immersive experience created by the talented Lady Tournament, also known as Jzl Jmz. The artist is Los Angeles based and has been featured in influential magazines such as the LA Times and Poetry Magazine. In ROOM-innate, Lady Tournament gives us the opportunity to explore her childhood home where her trans-womanhood blossomed. Through painting from her mother and sculptures from her daughter, Lady Tournament explores the topics of solace, imagination, and birth through the Black domestic and creative expressions.