Gloria Tinker: Native American Spirituality Captured on Canvas

Note: In early September, Todd Peterson had to move on to other work responsibilities but will contribute to "50 Artists" from time to time. He extends his appreciation to all the artists he has interviewed and to the staff of the Emerald Art Center.

As time permits, Todd will update this blog with the articles written by other contributing writers for The Springfield Beacon.


Featured in the Springfield Beacon (September 26, 2007)

50 Artists: 50 Years of Art in Springfield
Celebrating arts and culture in our community

By Brian McClellan
For the Beacon

Gloria Tinker
Native American spirituality captured on canvas

Each watercolor or oil painting of Gloria Tinker will traverse you through the world of Native American spirituality with it’s images of flowers, animals and people. Her detailed strokes and choice of color not only captures the life of her idea but also infuses it with the ideas of spiritually and healing. “Art has to have a melody,” Tinker says.

Tinker, a native Oregonian, was born part Native American and an artist. Being an artist since childhood, her first award was won in sixth grade for a rendering in chalk and crayon of cave men hunting a mammoth.

She started down her path to spiritually in her forties. Questions like “Who am I?” “Where Am I going?” “What difference does it make?” plagued her mind and affected her art. She found her answers in Native American healing and spirituality. It was then she started to attend their ceremonies.

With this new spiritual paradigm, Tinker learned to see the bigger picture, the bigger light. “The more you know the more you don’t know,” she says.

These new ideas translated themselves into her art. Medicine art, she explained is different from her other works by its use of narrative. Now her art ability has transgressed beyond the simple mechanics of a paint brush. The ability to see is important. “It’s not just green,” she said. “There also might be yellow. It’s the skill of seeing by closing your eyes.”

Today, after attending to University of Oregon, Lane Community College, and Eugene’s school of Commercial art, she teaches water color and oils at Williamalane Parks and Recreation. Her class’s pictures can be seen at Terese’s place on Sixth and Main, next to the Wildish Theater. She’s been in numerous galleries, at one point she even owned her own gallery and ran her own exhibitions.

What or who inspired you to begin your work as an artist? – Without a T.V or siblings she was left to her own musings and so she turned to painting.

Did you have mentors to guide you? – She was guided by her spirit, painting whatever she found interesting. For example, she explained that six months she would only paint horses with water colors. This led her to try various different subjects.

What difference does creating art make to the quality of your life? – Art is every where Tinker said, “It’s in nature. It could be butterflies at play, or a beautiful person. Art is the imitation of what we see in nature everyday.”

"Imagine" by Gloria Tinker

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About The Artist

Birthplace: Seattle, Wash.

Arts education: Lane Community College, University of Oregon, and Eugene’s School of Commercial Art.

Media preferred: Watercolor and oils.

Web site: www.ArtistGloriaTinker.com
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All art images and photos of the art are copyright of the artist.

"Blue Frog" by Gloria Tinker

"Pansies on Parade" by Gloria Tinker

"The Smile" by Gloria Tinker

Mary Henley: Paintings stand as a reminder for her life

50 Artists: 50 Years of Art in Springfield
Celebrating arts and culture in our community

Featured in the Springfield Beacon (September 19, 2007)


Mary Henley
Paintings stand as a reminder for her life

By Brian McClellan
For the Beacon

For Mary Henley, old barns are like artifacts. In her life-like watercolor paintings of old barns she captures the broken windows, the decayed wood, and the chipped paint which capture the story of an earlier time.

Henley and her husband Gordon moved to Springfield in 2000 from Springfield California. They had moved to be closer to their two sons, but upon moving discovered she needed spinal surgery.

“She wouldn’t have made it to the hospital, only forty- five minutes away.” Mr. Henley said. That’s when they really became thankful for the move. Their other house had stairs which had the potential to do more harm. There was also more advanced medical help in the Springfield and Eugene area then there was in their California town.

Henley’s skills in art range farther then just watercolors. She’s played with pastels, paint and sculpting. Without any formal training her sculptures retain beautiful life like traits, confirming her amazing wide ranged artistic ability. An art gallery of Las Vegas once commissioned her to sculpt an entire series but unfortunately due to arthritis she was unable to finish it.

Originally she went to college in Bakersfield, California for a nursing degree, but instead she fell in love. She was married in Lindale, California and has been married for fifty-eight years. They have two sons and one daughter. Art seems to flow throughout this family. They have a grandchild who is currently enrolled in Portland Art Institute. Henley’s husband helps with building the frames for his wife’s paintings.

Since the move to Oregon, Henley has taken it slow -- only painting small things like invitation cards. But her paintings stand as reminders, not only of places in her life, but as monuments of her amazing talent.

In her own words:

What or who inspired you to begin by our work as an artist?

Nature and old buildings inspire her life-like water colored paintings. Each nature setting is inspired by a story and every old barn was an actual location. Henley has been painting for sixty years, but even before that she was an artist. As a child in elementary school she won her first paint set in an acting contest.

What difference does creating art make to the quality of your life?

“It makes my life very enriched.” Her old barns stand as relics of another time she explained. “Artists are special people. They’re Historians. Throughout the history of mankind artists have left artifacts for future generations to find."

What legacy as an artist would you like to leave for future generations?

“I do old barns, old buildings so the young don’t forget what happened and so we have a record.”

"Morning Gossip" by Mary Henley

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About The Artist:

Birthplace: Sterling, Oklahoma

Arts education: Self-taught

Media of choice: All forms of media, but prefers watercolors

Other hobbies: Gardening
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Deborah Weese: Painting the world the way she wishes it would be

Writer's Notes: Walking into Deborah and Guy Weese's home offers a visual feast of Disney characters of many shapes and sizes. Shelves on three walls are covered with her favorite characters from Disney cartoons. I've never seen such a large collection in one place -- outside of Disneyland, of course (and this collection may even top that!).

Deborah and I went out to the backyard for our conversation about her art. We sat in chairs in her garden of bamboo (a small forest), a large palm tree (largest I've seen in Oregon), a small pond with a curving bridge passing over it, stone statues amidst lots of ornamental grasses, and an abundant pear tree (plus a very friendly cat!). Some photos of the garden are featured in my story in June about Guy Weese.

In our interview, Deborah noted that she had designed the new poster for the Springfield Mayor's Art Show coming up in October. As a cat lover with many cats in the family, two of her furry ones provided the reflected image featured on the poster.

When I asked Deborah my "artist's legacy" question in our interview, she told me a touching story that made it clear why she thought she'd be remembered more for her photography than for her paintings.

Several years ago when she and Guy were photographing a wedding at Heceta Head, she had taken a photo of one of the attending grandmother's walking the path up to the lighthouse. Just moments after she had taken the photo of the grandmother smiling radiantly as she held a colorful "rainbow" umbrella, the elderly women dropped to the ground. She had died instantly. Somehow, after attempts were made to revive her, the wedding party decided that grandmother would have wanted the wedding to go on. So in the midst of their shock over her death, the couple had their wedding ceremony.

Deborah didn't immediately tell the family about the photo she had taken and was concerned about showing it to them when she was presenting the wedding photos for their review. Thankfully, the family expressed their gratitude to Deborah for the joyful photo of their grandmother in the last moments of her life.

Fast-forward to a weekend last month (August 2007) when Deborah and Guy were at Heceta Head and decided to take a walk up the path up to the lighthouse. On the way, they noticed a bench for people to rest on during their walk. When they sat down on the bench, they noticed a plaque on the backrest. The plaque noted that the bench had been dedicated to the memory of the grandmother Deborah had photographed at that spot on a wedding day so many years ago.

Quite a story. We never truly know what life will bring in the next moment (except whatever comes in the next moment and the next .....). And a photographer captures just one moment of a person's life . . . a brilliant sunset at the beach . . . a cat looking at itself reflected on a window glass . . . or a smiling grandmother on a granddaughter's wedding day.

When we finished the interview and returned inside to Deborah's studio, she showed me the painting she was currently working on. The forest surrounding a lake and waterfall was nearly completed and she was planning to place a big brown bear into the scene. As you'll see in the newspaper story below, Deborah has a deep affection for animals and a sentimental heart. Her oil paintings and pastels of nature scenes always have a place for an animal whose home is the sacred ground she is capturing on her canvas.

I look forward to seeing more of Deborah's work at the Emerald Art Center in the future and to spending more time delighting in the beautiful world she envisions in her paintings.

More photos of Deborah Weese's paintings follow the newspaper story.

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Featured in the Springfield Beacon (September 5, 2007)

50 Artists: 50 Years of Art in Springfield
Celebrating arts and culture in our community

By Todd Peterson
For The Beacon

Deborah Weese
Painting the world the way she wishes it would be

Deborah Weese, an accomplished professional photographer, loves to paint the gentle side of life -- an idealized world like Disneyland. She enjoys being an "over-the top" sentimentalist who paints warm, fuzzy animals in a Disneyesk style.

In her home, Deborah has an amazing collection of Disney characters in many sizes and types. Several shelves are covered with Mickey's and Minnies, Pluto's, and the other Disney favorites of her childhood (and adulthood).

Among the animals Deborah paints with oils and pastels are many cats -- cats with names like "Simba" and "Shadow". Most of the cats have been a part of her life at home. Most recently, Deborah designed a poster for the Springfield Mayor's Art Show that featured two of her cats.

An active member of the Emerald Art Center since the downtown gallery opened in the Fall of 2004, Deborah created the initial website for the organization. Now her husband, Guy, does most of the on-going maintenance of the site which has been viewed by thousands of people living in countries throughout the world.

Deborah and Guy have done wedding photography together for over 16 years -- enjoying the process of capturing the precious moments of celebration for many newlyweds. In her work as a photography professional in a hospital setting for several years, Deborah has photographed a wide variety subjects -- from technical medical photos to very heart-wrenching photos of babies with their parents for the last time.

Deborah Weese has seen the beautiful and the tragic through the lens of her camera. Her joy is seen in her paintings of a kinder, gentler world filled with delight (and lots of warm fuzzies!).

In her own words:

Inspiration To Begin: "I was influenced most by Disney films (we went to Disneyland at least once a year). I can't recall not drawing and painting as a child. Now I work as a professional photographer and paint for the sure joy of doing it."

Important Mentors: "Of course, Walt Disney (who I never met). And the Old Masters -- Van Gogh and several other Impressionists. In photography I've had lots of influences -- Imogen Cunningham, Dorothea Lange, and Annie Leibovitz among others."

Value of Art in Life: "My art connects me spiritually with the Creator. It causes me to see -- to really appreciate what I see -- and not take things for granted. And it connects me with people who I never would have met."

Her Artist's Legacy: "I expect I'll be remembered more for my photography than my paintings. I've had some amazing moments of connection with people that will live on in the photos I've taken of them. As for my paintings, I haven't mastered oils yet but I'm having fun trying!"

For more information about Deborah Weese and to see additional images of her art, visit the blog: www.emeraldartcenter.blogspot.com and the art center's website: www.emeraldartcenter.org.

"Hidden Mickey" by Deborah Weese

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About The Artist

Birthplace: Pasadena, California

Arts Education: Lane Community College (graphic design); art and photography classes at Maude Kerns Art Center

Media of Choice: Oil and pastels

Favorite Place to Do Art: At home in her studio (anytime night or day)

Favorite Subjects To Paint: Animals (warm and fuzzy); nature (tall trees)

Arts Organizations: Emerald Empire Arts Association


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All art images and photos of the art are copyright of the artist.

"Panda" by Deborah Weese

"Sheep After Jerry Dame" by Deborah Weese

"Cougar Falls" by Deborah Weese