Watercolors and sculptures on display through Nov. 30
If her comments are any indication, Bev Jozwiak is the opposite of the stereotypical tortured artist.
I am a very prolific painter, she says of her watercolors and acrylics. My philosophy is to sell them rather than store them under my bed.
And sell them she does, at prices ranging from $200 to $1,400 a pop. You can see her latest work at the Caswell Gallery in Troutdale through Friday, Nov. 30
I called this show painting Life With life, she says. I like to paint animals, some still lifes, but my true love is doing figurative work. I like people going about their everyday business. Never a posed portrait.
I also mean life as in energy and lots of impressionistic brushwork, she says. I never want my painting to look like a photograph. In my opinion that is why we have the camera.
Bev believes in keeping original art affordable and accessible to everyone, says Linda Kiley, gallery spokeswoman, who notes Jozwiaks work is familiar to Caswells visitors.
We love her ability to capture common subjects in their everyday environments and somehow make them seem exquisitely unique and special. Her work is impressionistic, and she strives for realism while expressing the love and energy that goes into each piece.
The Vancouver, Wash., artist has won multiple awards and been featured in numerous magazines including American Artist, The Artist, Watercolor Artist, The Collector and International Artist. She even had a calendar published by Hallmark. She spoke at length about what went into the creation of three of her works in the exhibit.
Top Chefs
Top Chefs is from an ongoing series I have been working on, she says. It has been a successful series, garnering me entry to some big competitions, a full page mention in American Art Collector magazine, and a big article coming soon (April 2013) in Watercolor Artist.
I look for subjects that I can create good design with, and that fills my need to create figures in their everyday life. This works perfectly for both.
Blowin in the Wind
The coast is one of my favorite places, Jozwiak says. I always have camera in hand and take a multitude of photos when I go. Many unposed, but some, like this one, posed just right.
I do a lot of figures without much or any of their faces showing, she says. The viewer can relate, and many times I have sold a piece because it reminds them of their own kids, or someone they know. I loved the feel of the wind in this piece, with the scarves and hair whipping around their faces.
1st Street Hotel
This is my rain series what could be more typical in the Northwest? she says. Although it is raining, I use warm colors and find them anything but depressing. Very impressionistic, with varied color, and lots of brushwork showing, they are really fun to paint.
The Regats
In addition to Jozwiaks work, the Caswell Gallery is highlighting pieces created by Jacques and Mary Regat.
We have not shown them in the gallery since 2006, so when they were available to show at the gallery, we jumped at the chance to reintroduce them, Kiley says.
The painters and sculptors hail from Alaska, and their subjects reflect Alaskan culture and heritage, Kiley notes.
Jacques Regat is a self-taught painter and carver from France who is also a trained machinist and tool-and-die-maker. In Alaska, he developed a strong kinship and respect for the cultural myths and history of its native people, which became an inspirational theme reflected in many of his works.
Meanwhile, Mary Regat is also primarily a self-taught artist who began sculpting while living in a remote logging camp on Prince of Wales Island in southeast Alaska. Her first efforts were a 28-foot dugout canoe. She eventually took up residence in Anchorage and began sculpting in stone. Her style is expressive and impressionistic, capturing the emotions and moods of her subjects.
The couple met and married in Alaska. They work in bronze, silver, wood and stone, lithographs, oils and acrylic.