I’m always learning new and interesting things in my role as a wandering art lover. Sometimes I feel like that picture of Christopher Robin holding Pooh Bear by one arm and staring up at the wall with one hand of wonder to my mouth.
Right now, I’m in the Don Dexter Gallery at 2911 Tennyson Ave #202 in Crescent Village in north Eugene looking at photogravures by Ray Bideagin. I see a softly sepia toned image of a woman’s torso. Her two crossed palms hold a ball of string like a sacred object. In another, a poppy bloom and a poppy bud make a long, shapely line rising out of a narrow vase against a textured background. What I love is the way the subtle light plays on both petals and glass, also in sepia tones.
Finally, I ask the question: What am I looking at? This elegant exhibit features photogravures. Photogravures are photographs etched into copper and printed traditionally with ink. Their rich velvety matte surface, deep shadows, delicate half tones, and luminous highlights make photogravures some of the most beautiful and tactile images ever printed. Ray Bidegain’s show is titled, “A Quiet View,” which just suits my mood as the November rains begin.
This show at the Don Dexter Gallery is sponsored by Photography at Oregon, which has another fine show up at the Dot Dotson Gallery at 1668 Willamette by Albany photographer Kurt Norlin. Norlin’s colorful work hovers between the real and the abstract. He says himself that “the images are more about an impression or dream remembered.”
Wherever you are in the KLCC listening area, November is a cornucopia overflowing with good things to look at. So take your bear in hand and go forth into the world in wonder.
