1. Atelier 6000  2. Bella Moda  3. Cascade School of Music  4. City Hall  5. Desperado 6. Douglas Fine Jewelry 7. Franklin Crossing’s Art in the Atrium  8. Haven Home Style 9. Karen Bandy Studio 10. Red Chair Gallery 11. Sage Custom Framing & Gallery 12. Strictly Organic. 13. Tumalo Art Co.

Art in the Atrium at Franklin Crossing 550 NW Franklin, celebrates First Friday with fine art prints by Yuji Hiratsuka and works by gallery artists. Thru June.
Yuji Hiratsuka, professor of fine arts at Oregon State University-Corvallis and internationally recognized printmaker, travels throughout the U.S. to lead specialized printmaking classes for numerous universities. OSU-Cascades B.F.A. program hosted his summer workshops for successive years. Beginning his career at OSU in 1987, the artist is a native of Osaka, Japan and came to the US to pursue graduate degrees in printmaking at New Mexico State University (M.A.) and Indiana University (M.F.A.).
The artist combines techniques of intaglio and chine colle to create figurative, whimsically narrative, limited edition prints. The Franklin Crossing exhibition features prints predominantly of smiling females, using both Asian and American imagery to depict the irony of, perhaps satirize, daily life with its paradoxical interface.  The works metaphorically suggest realities of modern global existence.

A prolific printmaker, his graphic work appeared in frequent exhibitions in the Americas, Europe and Asia.  He received numerous awards including the Equal Prize at Majdanek 2000, VI International Art Triennial, Lubin, Poland. His many collections include The Achenbach Foundation for the Graphic Arts, San Francisco, The British Museum, London, UK, Tokyo Central Museum, Tokyo, Japan, New York Public Library and Portland Art Museum. 

Ceylon Blue, event planner at Franklin Crossing, will serve appetizers and wine and the popular Tommy LeRoy Trio performs jazz with Andy Armor, piano, George Bouhey, drums and Tom Freedman, bass.  Turner provides additional information at 541-382-9398.   

Atelier 6000 389 SW Scalehouse Ct. Suite 120.  541-330-8759, www.atelier6000.com.  Works on Paper thru June. Hand-pulled prints and mixed media paintings showcase the ten members of the Alt Artist Groups’ contemporary sensibility.
Pam Jersey Bird’s acrylic paintings and hand-pulled prints originate in observation, yet she works from imagination. As an intuitive artist, Bird takes her work beyond realistic portrayal, from what is perceived to what is experienced.

Through direct observation, focused study and the imaginative portrayal of nature and landscape, Patricia Clark’s artwork portrays her vision and appreciation of the natural world.

During explorative use of watercolor, watercolor crayons and acrylic on paper and canvas, Judy Hoiness combines an imaginative design that reveals simplified and abstracted shapes played against areas of more representational imagery.
Barbara Hudin‘s encaustic works and handpulled prints often have a whimsical bent with a story to tell.  Fantasy landscapes, animals and the human form, often with petroglyph-like marks or other personal symbols highlight her works.

Terry Gloeckler’s multiple painted and drawn images are layered underneath each piece of artwork to create a “history“ of imagery and narrative – these stories create Gloeckler’s work.

Michael Kelly executes the twists and turns of form and line allowing one image to direct to the next. The years of cartography services provide a bridge to abstract expressionism, with geometry playing a role. Realism becomes more abstract and the abstract becomes more realistic.

Justyn Livingston’s paintings have taken her on a journey in which she learns how to practice being present, to trust herself and to be spontaneous and not muscle through the artistic process.

Ingrid Lustig’s acrylic paintings and monoprints refer to the four elements – fire, earth, water and air. Lustig explores the juxtaposition of geometric shapes with natural shapes and their significance in her artwork.

Amy Royce’s art is not smiling, pretty, passive or silent; it is moody, earthy and corporeal.  Inspired by the interior landscape of the human figure, Royce scrapes, pushes and pulls encaustic wax paint around the canvass with heat and carving tools, she embeds prints and drawings of figures, tears paper shapes and molds to create stratified layers of molten wax and pigment.

Ron Schultz has described himself as a painter, illustrator, printmaker, engraver, draftsman and graphic designer.  Schultz sees virtually unlimited possibilities within the ancient art form of encaustic painting. His exploration of intaglio and relief printmaking demonstrates his keen eye for detail, investigation of line and a profound desire for the mysterious and unexpected.

Bella Moda 1001 NW Wall St, 541-550-7001 Open for First Friday.

Bend City Walls at City Hall Exhibition 710 NW Wall Street. 541-388-5517. City of Bend Arts, Beautification & Culture Commission, City Walls at City Hall’s INSIDE::OUT Continues to Explore Our External and Internal Environment. The fourth City Walls at City Hall Art Show of 2012 celebrates its third month of exhibiting during First Friday. Partnering with the Environmental Center, artists have expressed the theme through a variety of media that should not be missed.

Participating artists and organizations are: Helen Brisson/The Environmental Center, Kay Baker/Gordon Baker/Oregon Natural Desert Association, Linda Gillard/BEND 2030 Quality Environment, Janelle Rebick/Sierra Club–Juniper Group, David Kinker/Oregon Wild, Donna Lutzky/Commute Options, Mary Marquiss/East Cascade Audubon Society, Diane Miyauchi/The Trust for Public Land, Christopher Nolte/Bend Area Habitat for Humanity, Jennifer Poncia/1000 Friends of Oregon, Eileen Carlton/Trout Unlimited–Deschutes Chapter, Vicki Roadman/Deschutes Land Trust, Sara Wiener/Upper Deschutes Watershed Council. www.bendoregon.gov/citywalls.

Cascade School of Music 200 NW Pacific Park Lane, on the Deschutes River, just upstream from the Portland Ave. bridge. 541-382-6866. First Friday Parents’ Night Out…call to hold your spot. Kids age 4-12 enjoy supervised art and music-related activities, then end the evening with a musically-inspired, age-appropriate movie (complete with popcorn).

Desperado Contemporary & Nostalgic Western Store 330 SW Powerhouse, Old Mill District. 749-9980. Barbara Slater exhibits fanciful and endearing animals including elegant roosters, soulful horses, beloved dogs and other creatures. Her affection of them and her skillful grasp of their nature is apparent in the imagery. “Animals bring something special to our lives and give us inspiration for paintings that we all treasure,” she says. Slater’s paintings are an ongoing exhibit at Desperado at the Old Mill.

Douglas Jewelry Saint Clair Place on Minnesota St. #106, 541-389-2901, www.DouglasJewelry.com. Kim Kimerling: Multicultural Symbologist who works with many types of media creating two and three dimensional art with strong ethnic symbolism. His art is often figurative and abstract in nature.

John Paul Designs 1006 NW Bond St., 541-318-5645. Custom Jewelry + Signature Series. Specializing in unique, one of a kind wedding and engagement rings in a variety of metals. www.johnpauldesigns.com.

Karen Bandy Design Jeweler 25 NW Minnesota Ave. #5, 541-388-0155. Karen Bandy celebrates 25 years designing in Central Oregon with an anniversary celebration at her studio on First Friday. To mark the occasion, she is donating a custom-designed carved horse pendant, selling raffle tickets with 100 percent of funds raised going to Healing Reins charity. (Raffle tickets may be purchased through Bandy and Healing Reins volunteers. The drawing will be held July 6 at First Friday. An equestrian herself, Bandy knows first-hand that “the horse is a symbol of solidity and power; Healing Reins empowers people through horses. I thought it very fitting that I make and donate a horse pendant to help this cause.”  www.karenbandy.com or karen@karenbandy.com.

Lahaina Galleries at the Old Mill, 541-388-4404, www.lahainagalleries.com.  Featureing local artists Katherine Taylor (impressionist), Mollie Jurgenson (mixed-media abstract), Mytchell Mead (metal sculpture) and Jason Waldron (high desert/Manzanita wood sculpture). New hanging metal and wood sculptures have arrived by artist, Mytchell Mead.  See the new bear prints, The Diver and Lazy River by the enchanting realist Robert Bissell.

Lubbesmeyer Studio & Gallery  The Old Mill District, 2nd Story Loft, 541-330-0840, www.lubbesmeyer.com.

Mockingbird Gallery 869 NW Wall St, 541-388-2107, www.mockingbird-gallery.com Seeing Light Through Color, a two-person show featuring new work by Kent R. Wallis and Xiaogang Zhu.  First Friday hear the sounds of Rich Hurdle and Friends.  
Utah artist Kent R. Wallis’s paintings blend the schools of romantic realism and impressionism, and his palette is bold and vivid.  But there is a private calm, a pure and quiet delight in his work that speaks of a simple love of color and form.  He paints intimate studies of the surrounding countryside near his rural Utah home focusing on vignettes of dappled light and quiet pools of color.  Self-taught, his development as an artist was instinctive.  His use of color and composition lend themselves to an incredible beauty which reflects intensity as well as a gentle calm and strength.  
Bend artist Xiaogang Zhu is known for his mastery with the medium of gouache.  He creates light-filled landscapes and beautifully illuminated waterscapes of places with which he is familiar – cities in China and the Yangtze River, Arizona, Washington and Central Oregon.  Xiaogang is also an accomplished oil painter who enjoys being able to paint larger studio works in the medium of oil, which are often inspired by his plein air gouache studies.

QuiltWorks 926 NE Greenwood Ave. 541-728-0527, featured quilter Candy Woods an eclectic art quilter. The group exhibit is Photos 2 Fiber and their exhibit is Digitally Textured. QuiltWorks will also be celebrating their second birthday on June 1.

Red Chair Gallery 103 NW Oregon Ave. in the historic O’Kane Building, 541-306-3176 The Shape of Color features three local artists.  Barbara Werdell who creates large colorful acrylic abstract pieces.  The striking nature of Barbara’s work arises from creatively combining color and texture. Typically she spends close to a month layering and painting each piece.  Linda Swindle’s art form is colorful watercolor works. For Linda, painting is about involvement, both intellectually and emotionally.  She feels her work comes from the heart and soul and is the most interesting endeavor she has discovered.  Julia Kennedy makes jewelry using a technique called bead weaving.  Her bead weaving is endlessly fascinating because of the infinite colors, textures and sculptural effects that can be achieved.   The work requires great focus and attention to detail that gives her the tranquility of meditation.

Sage Custom Framing & Gallery Exhibits 834 NW Brooks St., 541-382-5884  Featured artist Diane Hodiak. Although Diane has been painting and drawing since she was a young girl, professionally she is a new artist who has just begun to create art for the enjoyment of others as well as herself.  A love of nature and the outdoors drives her interest in painting.  An active birder, she paints birds of all kinds, focusing on hummingbirds and other colorful species.  She also paints favorite local places from all over Oregon.  She believes that although nature’s palette is beautiful, an artist has the ability to create more intense visual interest by the interactions of colors, intensified for extraordinary effects.  Her preferred media are acrylics and pastels, with intense, saturated pigments.  

Strictly Organic Coffee 6 SW Bond St. Framed images by Bend landscape photographer Stuart L. Gordon thru July. Gordon, who has participated in many exhibits and First Friday Art Walks, will showcase landscape images from Oregon, Big Sur, Colorado and the Southwest.

“I’ve always admired Strictly Organic’s reputation for supporting sustainability and fair trade, and so I’m looking forward to having my images exhibited there and interacting with their customers and staff,” said Gordon.

Gordon focuses on Central Oregon landscapes but also travels extensively to bring back images from the beautiful areas he visits. In addition to working on a book of images of Oregon, he is planning photography excursions to the Eastern Sierra in the fall and Mt. Rainier this summer.

“A few years ago, I pledged to take my children to at least one national park each year. In fact, that commitment is one of the things that inspired me to take up photography,” Gordon said. “There aren’t too many things these days that can compete with TV and video games for a child’s attention. But I’ve found my kids have such an enjoyable and memorable time at the national parks that they don’t miss those other things.”

All the matted and framed prints in the exhibit are made with archival inks and will be on sale at Strictly Organic from June 1 through July. All the images are available in a variety of sizes, both framed and unframed.

Gordon said he sees the camera as a tool to express his personal vision of and emotional response to the beauty of the natural world.

“The great American author Henry Miller once said, ‘One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.’ I couldn’t agree more. Photography has enabled me to see things with a different eye than I ever did before. Now I see the extraordinary in what many would consider ordinary things.” www.chasingthelight.zenfolio.com.

Thump Coffee 25 NW Minnesota, 541-388-0226, www.ThumpCoffee.com. Bend artist Julia Junkin’s design work has been featured in magazines such as Bon Apetite, Better Homes and Gardens and Brides, and objects bearing her art are sold across the U.S. at retailers including Sur la Table, Neiman Marcus and Crate & Barrel. Thru June, Thump will spotlight the paintings Junkins makes for artistic and creative freedom.

“In my work I am inspired by beauty and the unseen depth in things, the spiritual that lives in us even as we wash the dishes and get our latte,” says Junkin. “In my creative process I try not to think too much. I try to let my creativity have its way without too much fussing, as it seems when I overwork a piece it loses some of its original life. I tend to return to images that inspire me . . . for instance the praying buddah. I have painted the praying buddah many times but for me each one carries a different quality and essence. I am also a big doodler and poetic muser. I use pencil, pen, paint and whatever else I can find to create little one of a kind drawings-again listening to whatever drops down in that particular moment.”

Junkin attended art school in Seattle and started out hand-painting vintage linens purchased from second hand stores. This led to creating an entire wholesale line of hand-painted linens sold throughout the U.S. Known for her images of wine, still life settings and “poetic women in various states of muse,” Junkin now licenses her work to various companies who print the designs on linens, ceramics, wine glasses, magnets, paper napkins, posters and many other products.

Townshend’s Bend Teahouse 835 NW Bond Street, 541-312-2001. Features artwork by Dylan McMahon. Local Bend artist Dylan McMahon creates artwork in pencil, pen, charcoal and colored pencil.  

Tumalo Art Company at Old Mill District, 450 SW Powerhouse Dr. #407, 541-385-9144, www.tumaloartco.com.  Nature’s Bounty in Watercolor and Glass.
Nancy Becker’s translucent glass and Annie Ferder’s luminous watercolors take center stage during June. With a theme of Nature’s Bounty both artists work in their different mediums to interpret natural forms, playing off each other’s subjects.

Becker’s hand-formed glass has won numerous awards as have Ferder’s beautifully detailed watercolors. Shells, flowers, leaves and koi are the main subject matter and glowing color abounds.  Drop-in June 16 from 11am-1pm and watch Annie Ferder demonstrate watercolor techniques that make a winning painting.