The Edge of the Ocean:
Nelson Sandgren
Mark Clarke
Craig Spilman
Sept 14-Oct 22, 2022
Reception: Sept 17, 2-4 pm
First Friday, Oct 7th, 5:30-7:30 pm
Karin Clarke Gallery is pleased to bring together the work of three of this area’s finest artists for an exhibit celebrating the Oregon coast. Mark Clarke (1935-2016) was best known for his soft acrylic paintings of the Willamette Valley. This show reveals his love for the Oregon coast, where he would often begin a paintingthat he later worked on in his Eugene studio. The results have an atmospheric, layered and dream-like quality.
Clarke’s close friend and mentor Nelson Sandgren (1917-2006) was a prolific painter and printmaker, as well as a longtime instructor at Oregon State University in Corvallis. This show celebrates his love of large scale plain air painting. Sandgren brought students to the coast for an annual summer paint-out for decades. The Oregon coast was truly a main subject for this master of expressive watercolors. Yachats, Pacific City, Heceta Head, Cape Arago, and the Yaquina Lighthouse are just some of the scenes featured in this show.
Craig Spilman is a retired art instructor from Lane Community College and is admired for his luminous graphite on paper drawings. During the recent “pandemic” years, he completed a number of large-scale drawings he calls his “Seascape Series”. These masterful studies of light striking the ocean waves create an incredible feeling of both the drama and the calm we love so much about the Oregon coast.
Join us for a reception on Saturday,September 17 at 2:00 pm. The gallery will also be open for First Friday Artwalk on October 7.
Karin Clarke
Karin Clarke Gallery
