SUCCULENCE! : Fantasy Blends with Reality: ACRYLIC PAINTINGS OF INTIMATE SUCCULENTS BY SANDI WHETZEL, CONTEMPORARY FINE ARTIST, FEATURED AT DIVA

SUCCULENCE! Fantasy Blends with Reality in intimate views of succulents by acrylic contemporary fine artist, Sandi Whetzel, this July at DIVA, the Eugene, OR Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts in the Membership Gallery, one of six galleries at DIVA.

This lively collection of acrylic paintings celebrates luscious, stimulating colors, graceful lines, textures and intriguing motifs inspired by the artist's fascination with organic shapes in the world of succulents. Her art embraces and explores the nuances in shapes, patterns and color drawn from the plant world. Seventeen intimately cropped succulents are generously spaced along six white walls of the space devoted to Sandi's exhibit and two succulent paintings are mounted in the lobby entrance to DIVA. Many of her paintings in this exhibit feature very tactile textures and a couple of them are quite 3-dimensional. All nineteen paintings have brilliant chromas and graceful curvy lines in common.

Whetzel makes her home in Days Creek, Oregon in the southern part of the state. For the past twelve years she has been instructing Community Education art classes for Umpqua College in Roseburg, OR. Recently she has exhibited twice at the Coos Art museum in Coos Bay, the 2009 Inaugural National Art Exhibit in Gold Beach, OR, the Jacobs Gallery at the Eugene Hult Center in 2008 and solo exhibits at the Umpqua Valley Arts Association in Roseburg over the last few years.

Whetzel's painting design, Wine on the Vine II, won DIVA's Art Pour Favor competition for the Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 wine label gracing a special bottling of the wine for DIVA fundraisers in 2009. The Oregon Glide Wildflower Society selected her image of the Oregon Grape to promote the premiere Wildflower Show held in April 2009. Sandi is best known for her use of vibrant color and graceful shapes inspired from the plant world as well as her signature pieces to promote the wine industry in Oregon.

The opening reception for Sandi's exhibit at DIVA, 110 W Broadway, is Friday, July 3, 2009 from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. The event is a part of Eugene's First Friday Artwalk. Typically, the first Friday of each month is devoted to the "First Friday ArtWalk" in downtown Eugene. The public is invited to tour several art galleries, see diverse art and enjoy meeting the artists and community leaders at the receptions as they stroll the comfortable distance between art exhibits. For more information regarding the details of the featured stops of the First Friday ArtWalk, hosted by Jeff Geiger, the Artistic Director of NO Shame Theatre of Eugene, click here .

Whetzel's Succulence! Fantasy Blends with Reality solo art exhibit is on display at DIVA from July 3 through August 1st, 2009. Regular gallery hours at DIVA are Tuesdays through Saturdays from noon to 6 pm. For more information about DIVA click here

Sandi Whetzel's Art Displayed at Upcoming Exhibit at the Hult Center in Eugene, OR, 7/18 to 8/23/2008

I'm pleased to announce that I will be one of 17 artists to display several paintings in the Jacobs Gallery at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, One Eugene Center, Eugene, OR 97401 from July 18 - August 23, 2008. The opening reception is Friday, July 18, from 5:30-8:30 pm. The title of the exhibit is "An Oregon Crafted Sampler".

Also, earlier in the day of the opening reception from 3:30-4:30 pm there will be an informal gathering of some of the artists to meet the public to speak about their art and answer questions. Please join me for the Artists Insights Talk. It will be an opportunity for you to learn more about our art.

I will be displaying several of my succulent series of paintings. Two of them are just finished and haven't been displayed anywhere else. I love playing up the vibrant colors and unique shapes of succulents and doing some fun stuff with textures on them. I am really excited about and proud of this series of succulent delights.

The Lane County Chapter of Oregon Crafted members was instrumental in making this exhibit happen at the Jacobs Gallery. A number of Lane County Oregon Crafted members submitted to the jury process for acceptance into the show. Then the Lane County Chapter invited members of the Douglas County Chapter of Oregon Crafted to submit to the jurying process for the exhibit. To my knowledge, only three of the seventeen artists accepted into the exhibit are from the Douglas County Chapter. I feel very fortunate and excited about being a part of this event.

You may be wondering what is Oregon Crafted? Oregon Crafted is a project designed with one over-riding principle: to promote stability and prosperity among Oregon's artists, handcrafters and related businesses. Soon after the Lane County Chapter formed, the Umpqua Valley Chapter formed.

Both chapters have produced an Oregon Crafted guidebook for their respective counties. The books are self-guided tours to art studios, galleries and points of interest within their county. The Oregon Council for Business Education has worked in partnership with Umpqua Valley Arts Association in the production of the Oregon Crafted guidebook for Douglas County. Yes, I am listed in the Douglas County Oregon Crafted Guidebook. If you would like a copy of that guidebook to aid you in your explorations of the studios of participating artists, contact me with an email addressed to artist1atfrontiernetdotnet and I will get a copy to you.

I hope you will check out the exhibit. I'd love to meet you at the Artists' Insights Talk from 3:30-4:30 July 18, and/or the opening reception that evening from 5:30-8:30. If you can't make it that day, the exhibit runs through August 23, 2008. The gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday, 12-4 pm, Saturday 11 am - 3 pm, and one hour before and during all Hult Center performances.