I went to Linn Benton Community College in Albany the other day to the opening of their annual invitational show. Each faculty member invites the artist of their choice to participate. Kristin Kuhns (Salem), William Park (Portland), and Cynthia Spencer (Corvallis) were all going to be there talking about their work…and I really like to hear artists talk about their work and their process. (The fourth person in the show, S Tellez, was out of town…). Left to right Bill Park, Kristin Kuhns, Cynthia Spencer:
The audience was mostly students, of a variety of ages, and they were pretty interested when Bill Park described beginning to paint at age 41 because it was the one thing he really loved doing, and he realized he’d have regrets if he didn’t do it. He began the next day and never looked back. Most of his paintings in the show were of Fred, a man he’s been painting every Friday for 7 years…fascinating…(difficult for some students who had seen Park’s landscapes on line and wondered why he chose “difficult” subjects…). The paintings are full of energy and beautiful paint…
Cynthia Spencer has been working in clay for years making both useful vessels and sculptural pieces. Her newest pieces are pretty nice…clay and wire…and she spoke about her process, her excitement of doing new work, her love of clay from the first blob to a finished piece…
Kristin Kuhns is a prolific painter and woodworker, restless and focused at the same time, producing beautiful and beautifully crafted work. Most of the work in this show was a result of her examination of forest and man, the wildness of nature contrasted with the domesticity humans impose on any landscape…the result of a year of visiting the Xena Forest in Salem almost daily…of recording the patterns…
The students asked interesting questions, the remarks were worth the trip, and the show is nice…need to take a little drive?
On The Way 
Thank you again Bonnie. Kristin has long been one of my favorite artists, and it is great to see her new work.