"There and Back" exhibition, First Friday Art Walk at High Desert Gallery. March 4, 2011

First Friday Gallery Walk and Artist Reception: Friday, March 4, from 5 to 9pm. Meet Sue Favinger Smith and Dan Tilden, enjoy great conversation and refreshments during First Friday Gallery Walk. First Friday Gallery Walk sponsored by the Bend Gallery Association takes place each First Friday of the Month in downtown Historic Bend and The Old Mill District. A hoot for sure!

About Sue Favinger Smith: Sue Smith is a studio painter living in Central Oregon. Raised in California, she moved to Oregon in 1972. After a career in small business she returned to Oregon State University - Cascades, where she earned a degree in art and the Distinguished Student – Department of Art Award in 2005. She is represented in Central Oregon by High Desert Gallery.

“I’ve always been drawn to the idea that a good landscape painting is an invitation to explore. Where I live there is immense solitude, wild skies and secluded places. My work is about stepping in to this vast unknown and discovering what you might find there, of being alone without being lonely. My focus is to find a simple beauty in nature, without sentimentality.

My painting process is always evolving, as I seek better solutions to describe what I see. I paint directly, slowly allowing the forms to emerge from either the darkness or the light. I will use whatever tool gives me the surface quality I want, be that brush, or palette knife or rag. I believe the painting surface can communicate as much to the sense of light as the imagery – the overlaying of compliments, drawing back into wet paint, resolving the edges, thick and thin paint application. Everything you do affects what you’ve done and will do next. I am always learning, trying to capture with freshness and spontaneity this thing we call beauty.”

Professional Associations:

National Association of Women Artists, Women Artists of the West Associate, Oil Painters of America, American Impressionist Society

Selected Exhibitions:

Solo Exhibition, High Desert Gallery, March 2011
Oil Painters of America Western Regional Exhibition, 2010
Women Artists of the West Juried Exhibition, 2010
National Association of Women Artists Membership Exhibition, 2010, 2009
Solo Exhibition, "Perception and Imagination", High Desert Gallery, 2009

About Dan Tilden: All of Dan's work is turned on the lathe, using local woods from Southern Oregon. Typically he turns the wood in the green (when the wood is wet) and then manipulates the drying process to create organic shapes and forms. What some people may think of as a flaw in wood, he uses this to build character in the work and let the wood speak for itself. Dan has enjoyed his fine craft as a wood turner for 9 years and continues his study with international known wood turners, Christian Burchard and David Ellsworth. Creating in wood is his passion and what he loves to do.

About High Desert Gallery and High Desert Frameworks!: High Desert Gallery, The Art & Soul of Central Oregon™ is an award-winning fine art gallery located at 10 NW Minnesota Avenue at The Oxford Hotel in downtown Bend, Oregon. High Desert Frameworks!, the award-winning framing studio 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."

Official Website: http://www.highdesertgallery.com