BIRDS INSPIRE COVE ARTIST

BRIGHT AND BOLD: Katherine Treffinger, who moved to Cove last fall, is one of the featured at this year's Artists of Eastern Oregon. She stands beside one of her exhibited works, called "Birdwoman." (Staff photo/ETHAN SCHOWALTER-HAY).

- ETHAN SHOWALTER-HAY

Staff Writer

LA GRANDE - The annual Artists of Eastern Oregon exhibition runs from Aug. 11 through Sept. 14 in the Nightingale Gallery of Eastern Oregon University.

The gallery is managed by ArtsEast, a non-profit organization publicizing the arts in the vast rainshadow of the Cascades. Artists invited to include their work hail from Baker, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa and Wheeler counties.

One of the newest additions to Northeast Oregon's artistic community is Katherine Treffinger, whose work will be among those displayed.

Treffinger originally hails from Sausalito, Calif., where she rubbed shoulders with the Bohemian community. Most recently, she and her partner Kirby Ferris, a screenwriter, lived in Portland.

"When we moved to Portland," she says, "we both had the feeling we would move to a small town again."

Following the advice of a friend, they decided Cove was that destination. They moved into the old Cove store on Main Street in November, and their remodeling lends a pleasant, airy atmosphere to this architectural veteran.

Treffinger says the people of Cove have been nothing but welcoming.

"They're so friendly. It's amazing to me."

The broad and wild landscapes of Eastern Oregon are a boon to creativity.

"It's just plain beautiful here," Treffinger says. "That's always inspirational. I'm into beauty — I love color, I love nature ... And also the wildlife. There have been deer coming through here recently, and all the birds of prey that are around, and the magpies."

Many of the paintings she's previously exhibited have been abstract, but she says her true love is the type of figurative work she'll show at EOU. She also draws using charcoal, pencil, pen, crayon and gouache, a water-based paint.

"I use anything I can use to draw," she admits, crediting the artist Jim Dine as inspiration. "He'll be drawing, and just throw his morning cup of coffee onto it, and let it go out of control."

She laughs, "I've been known to take a power sander to my drawings."

Other artists she admires are Nathan Olivera, Elmer Bischoff, Frank Auerbach, Rick Bartow, Fritz Scholder and Zao Wou Ki.

Three of Treffinger's pieces will be featured in the exhibition: "Anna," "Birdwoman" and "Angel."

While this is the first public showing of her work in the area, Treffinger's paintings and drawings have been featured in numerous galleries in Western Oregon, California, Washington and Utah.

"I'm very appreciate of what ArtsEast is doing," she says. "With so many arts programs being lost, it's a wonderful thing."

ArtsEast is known for its Arts in Education program, which connects its guild of dancers, musicians and visual artists with schools in the often remote locales of Eastern Oregon.

And the gallery showing itself is a unique asset, Treffinger notes.

"There just aren't that many juried events in Oregon," she explains, noting that such exhibitions are important to a developing artist.

Treffinger maintains a website at www.katherinetreffinger.com.

The Artists of Eastern Oregon show opening reception runs from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday.