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Regional Artist art show, sale features the works of watercolorist
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“Art of Giving Fall Showcase” opens with an artist reception Friday. The reception at ArtsEast Gallery runs from 5 to 8 p.m. The show is free and open to the public and will run through Dec. 24. Located on the edge of campus at Eastern Oregon University, ArtsEast Gallery will be displaying and selling artwork during the showcase. The show features many local and regional artists’ work. Original paintings and photographs, hand-crafted jewelry and giclee prints are on display and available for purchase at affordable prices ($100 and under). In addition to the numerous local and regional artists displaying their work, the “Art of Giving Fall Showcase” features the works of Kayla Komito, a La Grande watercolorist. Komito has been painting in watercolor for the past 30 years. But in 1998 she began painting traditional Buddhist iconic art called Tibetan Thanka. The history of Tibetan Thanka paintings originated in Nepal when Buddhists and Hindus began to make illustrations of their deities. Because of the religious nature of the subject matter, Tibetan Thanka paintings are often highly symbolic.In her personal work, Komito utilized unusual techniques to focus on her symbolic paintings of personal mythology and the sacred feminine. Of her Tibetan Thanka paintings Komito says, “The painting style of my personal work had always been extremely complex, bright colors, and non-traditional (in the western sense) use of watercolor with opaque areas, intense colors, lots of detail, so it was very sympathetic to the Tibetan style.” Because Thanka paintings are used as meditation tools in Tibetan Buddhism, Komito engages in the appropriate preparatory meditation practices before each painting session. Currently, Komito co-teaches the Philosophy of Sacred Art and Buddhist Philosophy with her husband, David, through EOU’s online education program. She has also taught watercolor, collage and journaling classes. She holds lectures on Tibetan Thanka paintings and the art of the Sacred Feminine at various universities and Buddhist centers. The “Art of Giving Fall Showcase” show will feature Komito’s fine art giclee prints of her original Thanka works. Founded in 1977, ArtsEast, the home of Eastern Oregon Arts Council, is a non-profit organization serving, facilitating and promoting the arts, arts education and artists residing in the 10 eastern-most counties of Oregon. ArtsEast is in the white house on the corner of Sixth Street and L Avenue on the Eastern Oregon University campus in La Grande. For more information, call Mika Morton at 541-663-ARTS (3624). |
